Teach Me
by WoundedWarriors
Summary: HAL/BEN. After the attack on Boston and their father's dissapearance Hal and Ben grow distant and cold to eachother. But when an attack initiates a string of events that lead the Mason brothers into eachother's arms how will they react? RATED M for all that bad junk.
1. Paradise Lost

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. TNT related or otherwise.**

**Same warnings as on the summary. Rated M for language, alcohol, violence, sex, and other things of that nature. This story will contain explicit descriptions of intimate relations between two BROTHERS. I capitalize that because it's a warning. Do not give me an anonymous review to tell me how wrong that is. I WILL delete it. If you've got something about my writing you want to criticize well then be my guest but DO NOT attack me for your views and values. This is FICTION.**

**I realize I probably came off kind of rude there but I hear so much about people going off about certain pairings and I just don't get it. I am in no way encouraging this type of relationship between two real life family members. That said, I'm also not discouraging it. I'm not a judge, I'm not God, and I'm not going to make comments on the lives of other people. Their business, not mine.**

**So yeah, if anyone has any legitimate critics of my writing then DO NOT be afraid to let me know. I will read it and do my best to learn from it. Reviews help me, whether compliments or critics.**

**Thank you for your time.**

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1. Paradise Lost

It was early spring and they hadn't come yet. Innocence still existed and our biggest worries were paying the bills at the end of the month and trying to survive the daily humdrum of life.

I remember that time and every day now I wish for it more and more.

"They're mine freak!" I had been yelling at Ben, trying to wrestle away a pair of socks from him in the hallway of our home in Somerville.

Everything about that day seems so clear and real in my dreams but it soon fades as I wake up to the horror show that has overtaken our world.

The smell of our home. Not something that can be put into words but simply a pure scent that made it clear that this place belonged to the Masons. Mom always tried to cover it up with scented chemicals that were supposed to make us smell like oranges or lemons or some shit, but it never lasted long and she would soon give up for a few weeks until she got into the mood to clean again.

The feel of being in a place where you had nothing to fear and could just relax. That was what I missed most of all. Being in that safe place that was always too loud or cramped or had some other problem that made us all bump heads.

"No they're mine!" Ben thrust his palm forward and pushed my face away as we went tumbling to the ground. "Hal let go!"

"Boys!" Our mother called from downstairs, "Stop fighting and one of you get in the shower! You'll both be grounded this weekend if I have to drive you to school again!"

"Doesn't matter!" I mumbled around Ben's fingers before flipping us over so that I had him pinned to the ground with my forearm on his neck. I turned my head and called downstairs, "Julian's out of town for the week!" I smirked down at Ben's face as he grew red with anger and desperately clung to the pair of socks. "And we all know that Ben has nothing going on!"

At this his face twisted in frustration as he tried to throw me off but all it took was a little pressure applied to his throat to make him stop struggling.

"Problem Benny?" I asked mockingly as I held up the socks victoriously.

"Screw you Hal." He huffed and let his head fall back onto the soft carpet. He knew I had won.

I loosened the pressure on his throat but didn't move off of him. "When are you gonna learn?" I questioned, with a smile as he avoided looking up at me.

Suddenly I felt the socks snatched from my hands and flung myself up and off of Ben to face the thief.

Mom brought the pair to her nose and sniffed cautiously before dropping them like they had just mutated into snakes.

"Those aren't even clean!" She harped, pressing a soft hand to her forehead and pushing her blonde bangs back.

Ben got to his feet behind me and we both just stood there; waiting for her to start yelling.

Reflexively we drew closer together and I could feel his breath on my bare shoulder.

But when she brought her hand away she simply glanced at Ben behind me and said, "Get your butt in the shower. Now."

The order was clear and Ben immediately left me alone.

_Traitor._ I thought viscously; already plotting to get him back later.

She leveled her brown eyes at me and gestured for me to follow her downstairs.

I knew this routine and it wouldn't have done me any good to hesitate or try to sneak back to my room so I followed her like a loyal sheep.

When we reached the bottom she went over to the kitchen counter and picked up Matt's bowl of Lucky Charms from earlier, dumping the remaining milk down the sink.

I walked with my head down, examining the smooth wood of the kitchen floor, as I went to sit down at the counter.

"Why do you have to start with him?" She asked after a silence so long and bloated that I thought she'd never speak.

"Mom!" I held out my hands and looked at her incredulously as she turned on the sink and began to wash dishes. "It wasn't me!"

"Hal." She said flatly and glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes.

I stumbled for a response. I might have started it but that didn't mean I wasn't going to plead my case.

"I woke up, okay?" My eyes searched her face, making sure she was listening. "And the second I open my eyes I see him walking around my room and going through all my stuff." She didn't seem to share my outrage at this. "I've told him like a thousand times to stop coming in my room and he just doesn't listen."

"So you picked a fight over dirty socks?" She asked. I knew her questions never needed answers but I wasn't done explaining.

"No, I told him to leave and he told me to shut up." I made my way over to the stainless-steel fridge and propped open the door with my foot, grabbing the carton of orange juice out and taking a seat at the kitchen table. "So I went to make him leave and he grabs something off my floor and just runs for it."

"The socks." She noted, blandly.

"Yeah and they're mine, so I was right." Taking a sip out of the carton I sighed and felt satisfied with my argument.

"So you chased him down and fought him over a pair of dirty socks that you had no intention of wearing." She nodded her head and shut off the water, drying her hands with a dish rag. "He wanted to borrow a pair of socks and you decided to start trouble."

I let out an angry sigh and pressed a hand to my forehead before quickly pulling away in disgust.

That was her reaction when she was stressed and I'd just done it. That was not a good sign. All our relatives already said that I looked and acted just like her and now I was picking up her mannerisms.

Upstairs I heard the shower water turn off and the bathroom door open.

"Can I go now?" I asked. "We're gonna be late."

She shot me an un-amused look. "Go." She said. "But do me a favor and be the bigger person. You know how your brother is and you know he only wants your attention so be the man and know when to walk away. Got me?"

I hung my head and nodded, "Got you." I said, deflated. She always knew exactly what nerves to push to get to me.

"Good." She waved me upstairs. "Go."

I didn't need to be told twice. I left the juice carton on the counter, bounded up the stairs in a few big leaps, and caught sight of Ben as he left the bathroom – a towel around his waist.

As I passed him in the hall I swallowed my pride and indifference and reached out to squeeze his pale shoulder.

He continued on like I hadn't even made an attempt.

Say what you wanted about Ben but he could be a complete douche sometimes.

I showered quickly and went back to my room to get dressed. By the time I'd gotten downstairs Ben was already waiting at the front door with his sneakers and backpack on.

"Have you seen my boots?" I asked him, searching the living room.

"Under the coffee table." He mumbled, leaning against the door.

I nodded and grabbed them, tying them onto my feet and heading out the front door with him.

"When we get home later, can you call dad at work and ask him what time he'll be home?" I asked as we walked down the sidewalk.

He lifted an eyebrow at me. "Why?"

"If I ask him he'll be suspicious." I kicked at a small rock and listened to the sounds of the city around us. Horns honking in the distance, taxi's picking up rude customers, laughter and conversations drifting all around us.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Don't worry about it; I just need to know what time dad'll be home."

"He's got a class at eight tonight so he probably won't get back until late. Now why, or I'll call him and tell him that you're up to something." He glanced at me with a triumphant smile.

"Why do you always have to be a fucking snitch?" I demanded, turning my eyes on him coldly.

The moment the words left my mouth I regretted them. The hurt and shock in his eyes was immediate. I hadn't meant to be that harsh but he was always doing his best to make me angry and he got under my skin a lot.

We continued on in silence for a few minutes until he started mumbling so quietly that I almost didn't hear him. "Sorry, I won't say anything. I just wanted to know."

I sighed heavily. And to make things worse he knew how to make me feel guilty as well.

Looking at him I said, "I was going to invite Sandy over after school 'cause mom will be out doing errands all day."

He didn't offer anything in response to this but I saw that it made him uncomfortable.

But for some reason I wanted to tell him now.

"I was gonna ask you to take Matt out to the park and let him ride his scooter when he gets out of school so we could be alone."

He shot me a look that said he thought I was bat-shit crazy. "Mom would kill you."

"She wouldn't have found out." I muttered.

Another heavy silence fell over us until we were almost at school and Ben knew he only had a small window left to say what he wanted.

"Hal you're fifteen." He spat out.

"So?" I said defiantly.

He simply shook his head with a maturity that surpassed me by years. "Don't be stupid."

"Drop it. I'm done talking about this." I grumbled and sped up so that I was a few feet ahead of him.

I could feel his eyes on my back the rest of the way and it felt like an enormous weight was pressing down on me; making me feel ashamed for even thinking about bringing a girl to our house.

When we got to school I was relieved when Ben headed off to his first class without speaking to me. I knew that he wasn't done with the subject but for now I could avoid a weighty conversation.

I met up with Julian and a few other guys from the lacrosse team before walking into my first class a few minutes late.

Mrs. Marshall gave me a lot of shit about being on time and showing proper respect but I got off without any punishment besides listening to her hoarse voice tell me about how being late for class was an egregious act of disrespect.

When first period ended I made the decision that I was done with classes for the day.

I hung out in the library for most of the day. Books were more Ben's thing but I found some good uses for them.

Of course the librarian found my book-fort and knocked it down just as I was working on the eight foot tower. After that I was given detention and told to head to the office.

Instead I wandered the halls for a little while; peeking into random classes and trying to get the attention of some of my friends.

I was walking down the English hallway when I spotted Ben through the open doorway of his freshman English class.

He was standing at the front of the room and reading from the book that his teacher was making them read. To Kill a Mockingbird. I recognized the cover from my freshman year.

He looked nervous as he stumbled through sentence after sentence and sweat began to bead on his forehead from the judgmental stares of so many of his classmates.

I didn't like that at all. When it came to books Ben was a freaking genius but those kids had turned him into an idiot.

I stood in the hallway for a few minutes watching him struggle and felt my insides grow more uneasy with every passing second.

I couldn't just stand there and let him suffer like that, no matter how much he'd pissed me off that morning. He was a complete ass who was always all over my business but I felt anger in the pit of my stomach at all those kids who thought they were better than him.

"Ben." I said, walking into the class and drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

His teacher looked at me with her kind, senile eyes, and all of the other students watched with curiosity. People at school knew that me and Ben were brothers, but they also knew how different we were and most assumed that we didn't even talk.

"I need you for a sec." I said, and then looked to his teacher. "I need to talk to my brother."

She smiled and her eyes crinkled up. "Of course dear, just don't be long."

I nodded and smiled at her, before looking at Ben, "Let's go. Grab your things."

Ben was probably the most surprised person in the room. He knew I usually went out of my way to avoid him at school.

"C'mon doofus. Hurry it up." I said, trying to get Ben to move quicker so we could get out of here.

He hurriedly grabbed his bag and shoved all of his books inside, before returning to me at the front of the room.

"Ready?" I asked, lifting my brows at him and giving him a pat on the shoulder.

"Mhm." He mumbled, nodding his head and letting me guide him out the door.

"What's up?" He asked once we were in the hallway.

I shook my head and let out a deep breath, "I dunno."

"You okay?" He asked tentatively.

From the look on his face I knew that he was expecting me to either hit him for being soft or tell him something traumatizing.

I did neither. Instead I just kept on walking and led him to some random corner at the bottom of a stairwell, where I plopped down and patted the spot next to me for him to sit.

He did and I watched the wall across from us with pretend interest.

"Why are you so nervous in front of people?" I asked after a few long seconds.

He didn't answer right away but he eventually shrugged his shoulders and said, "I dunno."

"You realize that they're all just a bunch of little fucks right? You shouldn't let them make you uncomfortable." I raised my eyebrows at him, trying to elicit a response.

He nodded numbly and said seriously, "What's wrong Hal?"

I sighed and sunk lower against the wall, "I don't like Sandy." I admitted.

Ben took in the information like an adult; completely composed. "So why do you hang out with her?"

I shrugged, "She's . . ." I let my words trail off as I tried to find the right word.

"Easy." Ben supplemented and I looked at him with surprise. "I'm not stupid Hal."

I smirked and nodded, "Well, yeah. I guess."

"You do know that you're fifteen years old right? I mean, I've reminded you already but you don't seem to get it. Fifteen means you're still a kid no matter how much you like to pretend you're an adult. You have years to do all this stupid shit, just chill."

I smiled widely, flashing him what mom calls my joker grin. "I know but cold showers aren't working anymore."

Ben looked away and slapped a hand to his face but I saw his smile. "I think we're done here." He said and got up, offering me a hand.

I reached up and took it, letting him haul me to my feet.

"So no more Sandy?" He asked.

I heard the meaning in his voice and knew that he had nothing against her personally but he didn't like that I hung around her for the reasons I did.

I thought for a second before answering. "No." I shook my head, "No more Sandy."

"Who next then?" He joked but it fell flat.

I sighed and let my head bump against his, "No one. Not now anyway." I said seriously. "Just us."


	2. Calm Before The Storm

**Authors Note - I just wanted to say thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows. I'm working pretty hard on this story and your feedback means a lot to me and helps keep me going.**

**So 2nd Mass Redneck thank you so much for all your help, support, and grammar corrections :). xxMandixx thank you too and I'm not the only one. From what I've heard you're one of his favorite reviewers. So thanks for your review, it really means a lot to know that other writers think I have what it takes.**

**Okay that's it for now. Please keep reading and reviewing, your feedback is the most I can ask of you. And all those other readers if you see something (good or bad) and you want to tell – either for me to fix a mistake or just to make me smile – that would be** **appreciated greatly.**

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2. Calm Before The Storm

My dream was over when my eyes slowly opened to reveal that I was still in the farmhouse.

I began to wonder if I should stop calling them dreams and start calling them what they were. Nightmares.

Dreams were something to hope for but there was no hope in my memories. Only sadness and a resigned acceptance.

Almost two weeks had passed since we had made a concerted effort to bring down the alien structure over Boston and deliver a crippling blow to our invaders. And failed.

In those weeks the entire 2nd Mass regrouped and headed away from the city, seeking refuge in the desolate farmlands of western Massachusetts.

Dad was gone. We'd all been hit hard by that news, even those who didn't know him personally. But he wasn't the only one. More than half our fighters had been lost in Boston and everyone had someone to grieve for.

But the Captain never let any of us stop long enough to weep for the fallen.

We'd been ordered into new squads right away and given our marching orders.

Right now the Captain and a few of his fighters were guarding the civilians in an abandoned mall, and the rest of us were scattered around at various watch posts surrounding the town.

I was put in charge of my own squad. I chose Dai to be my second. He could have led his own squad if he'd wanted too, but I was used to having him around – he'd been my father's closest ally – and I asked him personally to stay by my side.

It was a given to the Captain to stick Ben in my squad as well and Ben convinced Jimmy and Rick to join us.

Anthony and Maggie brought the total fighters under my command to six.

"Anthony." I called across the room as I rolled on my side.

He mumbled a tired response about needing a few more minutes.

I sat up in bed – hearing the springs creak under my weight – and glanced out the window. The sun was rising over the fields of dead corn and other decimated crops.

Sighing, I got out of bed and staggered my way over to the door.

The wooden floors of the old farmhouse were cold against my bare feet as I headed downstairs to the first floor and out onto the decaying front porch.

I looked at Ben who was leaning against the front rail and Jimmy who was swaying slowly in a rocking chair.

Jimmy saw me first and stood up, knowing that he was relieved of duty. Ben had probably heard me the moment I opened my eyes but he didn't make a move as far as I could tell.

"Uh . . . Ben." Jimmy scratched the back of his head. "We're relieved. Let's go get some sleep."

We watched Ben give a short shake of his head. "You go. I'm not tired."

I knew this routine and how little Ben needed sleep these days. If we argued it'd only make him resent us and go into his gloomy shell where everyone was the enemy.

So instead I waved Jimmy off and said, "Let Anthony know he can skip this one. Ben and I can handle it."

The younger boy nodded and immediately went upstairs.

I sighed and walked over to Ben. "So what's up?" I asked.

"Nothing." He shrugged but wouldn't look at me.

"Just being miserable?" I offered with a laugh.

He didn't return my humor.

We stood for a few minutes in silence until he glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes.

"You're not dressed for the watch." He said with little apparent interest, but at least he was speaking to me.

I looked down at myself, dressed only in a white t-shirt and a pair of grey sweat pants, then at him, fully put together with a dark blue t-shirt, a pair of old jeans, boots and with his G36K assault rifle in his arms.

"We haven't seen any sign of aliens since leaving Boston." I folded my hands on top of my short dark hair. "I wouldn't worry too much about it."

Ben didn't respond but his stillness spoke louder than words could.

The thought came to both of us at the same time. It was that kind of thinking – that the aliens weren't hunting us at every turn – that had recently led to the loss of the 4th and 5th Massachusetts', and before that of all the other regiments.

"I'll be back in a minute." I said quietly and went back into the house to get dressed and ready for my watch.

I was at the top of the stairs when I caught sight of Maggie leaving her room at the end of the hall.

"You're up early." I noted, watching as she stepped out of the room in just a thin black tank top and a pair of worn pajama pants.

She shivered slightly in the drafty hallway and wrapped her arms around her slim waist. "Figured I'd make sure you were up for your shift." She said. "You've already been late for how many? Four now?"

I smirked and shook my head at her. "Two." I said. "But thanks for the concern."

"No problem." She walked past me. "Just trying to make sure that your laziness doesn't get me pasted all over the side of this charming little hamlet."

I turned and watched her move smoothly down the stairs and into the kitchen.

I dropped my chin and tried to force the grin from my lips.

A few minutes later I was fully dressed in a ratty old thermal, my dark camo jacket, a pair of cargo pants, and my boots. I picked up my IMI Galil SAR and hung it over my shoulder before shoving on my fingerless shooting gloves and fastening a nylon utility belt around my waist.

When I returned to the front porch I saw that Ben hadn't moved an inch.

Sitting in the rocking chair I picked up a wool blanket from the floor and draped it over my body.

Winter was coming in hard this year. The chill of autumn was already setting in and winter's bite wasn't far behind. I'd give it three more weeks before we had our first snow.

I remembered a time when I was excited to see the white crystals fall from the sky like a gift from Heaven itself. Now the thought of the freezing slush made me shiver and dread the coming freeze that would only make survival that much harder.

The Captain still hadn't given us our orders for the winter and people back at camp were starting to get worried.

Maybe if we lived somewhere else then the winter wouldn't even affect us, but in Massachusetts – if you weren't prepared and had no shelter – winter could be deadly.

I hadn't realized that I was watching at the back of Ben's head until I heard him say, "Stop staring at me."

I looked away without asking how he knew. I probably didn't want to know anyway.

"You're not cold?" I asked after a second; already knowing that he wasn't, even though he wasn't wearing a coat.

"Nope." He answered coolly.

I hated the way he acted ever since dad left. If I'd thought he'd been a douche before then I hadn't seen anything compared to this. When we first got him back from the Skitters things had been rocky for us but after a week or two we were better than we'd ever been and I'd even been thinking about teaching him how to shoot. Now that dad was gone he only ever had hostility for me and everyone else.

But he did still need to learn how to shoot . . .

Sure we let the kid carry a gun – hell we let everyone carry a gun lately – but that didn't mean he knew how to fire it.

"Hey Ben." I said abruptly and I think my sudden outburst actually startled him.

"Yeah?" He questioned, turning his head and lifting a brow at me.

"How about I teach you how to use that later?" I gestured to the assault rifle that he was still clutching in his arms.

At first I don't think he knew how to respond. I figured that he'd be a little embarrassed about admitting that he didn't know how to shoot, but I didn't think he'd actually turn down the offer because of his pride.

I stepped in quickly to save him some face. "You're probably a natural at it with all the other shit you've gotten so good at lately, but it never hurts to have a little practice. C'mon, just you and me?"

He looked away from me and stared out at the dying fields for so long that I wasn't sure he'd ever answer until I finally heard the ghost of a whisper drift across the air. "Sure."

I stood and walked over to him, clasping his shoulder in my hand, "Good. I'll go set up once our shift's over and then call you out."

If only I'd known then that all hell would break loose and our little shooting practice would turn into a full blown battle for life and death. If I'd known that then . . . I probably would've done it anyway.


	3. A Date Which Will Live In Infamy

**Authors Note - Again thanks for the reviews and everything, I've gotten a lot more encouragement and support than I expected when I started this so thank you all for that.**

**xxMandixx, again thank you for the review. I'm glad you thought I was good enough to keep on reading and yeah I know I hate cliffhangers but get ready because there's a lot of them in this story. Greg I'm happy you think I write well. That's my biggest concern, that I'm not descriptive enough about the surroundings and about facial expressions. Good thing you liked the cliffhanger, as I said above, there will be a lot of them.**

**Okay so keep reading and reviewing and all that. If any one has any thing they'd like to see me improve on or something I'm doing wrong, please let me know. I do like criticism as long as it's constructive and about my writing. Also if anyone want's to see me take the story in a certain direction or you have any ideas for a chapter then let me know and I'll do my best to get it into the story. I've got ideas and a few other chapters done but the story is in no way set in stone. Your ideas can help inspire me and even if I don't follow it to the letter, you can help me with your thoughts.**

**R&R, thanks!**

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3. A Date Which Will Live In Infamy

When our watch was over and Maggie came out onto the porch with Dai in tow, I sent Ben inside to grab a few extra mags off the counter and let Anthony know that he was on watch with Rick tonight.

While he was doing this I grabbed the months-old empty soda cans out of the trash and headed out to the back. I walked across the formerly fertile grounds until I reached the edge of the farm where field met forest.

There I found a few tree stumps and began to set up cans at different distances.

By the time Ben came jogging up I had already set up a veritable shooting range.

"You ready?" I asked.

He nodded and I saw a little bit of nervousness in those cold eyes.

"Alright, stand there." I pointed to a spot about fifty feet from the closest can where I had dug a line in the dirt with my boot.

He did as I instructed and I got out of his way; standing a few feet behind him.

Ben waited for further instruction but I gave none. He looked back at me after a second; an impatient question in his eyes.

"First show me how you would do it if I weren't helping you." I said, gesturing for him to spin back around when I got an irritated glare. "I'm not judging; I just want to see what you know."

Ben took a deep breath and turned away from me, focusing his eyes on the closest can. He brought the rifle closer to his face and lined up his sights on the can. Not more than three seconds later he had fired a small barrage of hot lead at the Pepsi can and missed each shot by a few feet. The bullets kicked up dirt all around the stump but not one had even got within a few inches.

I was right behind him a second later; taking the gun from his hands and pushing him to the side.

I went through all the motions that my father had taught me almost a whole year ago and when I fired a short burst at a can about 60 feet away I hit it and the one next to it.

"Did you see what I did?" I asked him, handing back his assault rifle.

My brother gave me a blank stare.

"Here, I'll show you." I put my hands on his shoulders and he immediately tensed under my grasp. I ignored his reaction to my touch and positioned him at the line. "Put your right hand on the grip and your left here," I moved his left hand up to just behind the hand guard. "Is that comfortable?"

"Yeah." He said and I felt him relax a little under my tutelage.

"Good. Now just-" I kicked his feet apart so that his stance was steady and the stock was firmly against his shoulder. "Keep your feet like that and line up your sights."

He did as I said and aimed for the nearest group of cans again.

I moved my left hand onto his shoulder and used my right to lift his elbow a little. We were close now and I could feel the heat radiating off of him like a fireplace. I swear the kid was never cold anymore and his skin was always hot to the touch. Probably just another idiosyncrasy I could chalk up to his being harnessed.

"Do you see your target in the center?" I asked quietly. Volume didn't seem to matter because of our proximity and even if we weren't that close his alien hearing would've caught it.

"Uhuh." He mumbled.

"Okay, now keep your grip tight. But not so tight that you're tense. Understand?"

He muttered something unintelligible but his grip didn't loosen and I saw the strain in his hands; the veins pushing against his skin like they were ready to burst.

I moved my hand onto his and curled my fingers along his smaller ones. "Relax." I breathed.

This time he seemed to get it and his entire body loosened, but his grip remained firm and his arm steady.

"Breath. Slow and steady." I coached him through it and soon he was ready. "Whenever you feel like your read-"

I was cut off midsentence when his finger slammed down and a short burst thundered from the barrel.

He missed the can he had aimed at but he did nick the one next to it and it fell to the dirt with a clink.

A wide grin broke out on my face as I pulled away from him.

"That's a whole lot better than your first try." I patted his shoulder and backed up a few feet, giving him some space. "Try again."

Without a response he followed the steps I showed him last time – I could see him loosening his grip a bit – and fired.

He missed completely this time but he did hit the stump; the vibration causing one of the cans to tip over.

"Alright, good, but you were too loose that time. Your wrist needs to be strong but fluid. Here," I moved in closer again and grabbed his wrist. "Like this."

I showed him what to do and repositioned his stance a bit.

This time when he fired he hit a can directly and sent it spiraling into the air before it fell to the ground with a thud.

I smiled and looked at the side of his face. "The Skitters won't stand a chance when I'm done with you. You're a natural."

He smiled shyly at the compliment but the pink that came to his cheeks was gone in a split second.

I stepped back and put my hand over my eyes to shield them from the pale light of the autumn sun as I looked for his next target.

He lowered the rifle and looked at me. "Hal."

"What's up?" I asked, trying to decide whether we should try for the 70 feet or 100 feet cans next.

"I'm uh," He hesitated and scratched the back of his head, earning my full attention.

"You okay?" I asked, furrowing my brow and looking at him uncertainly.

"Yeah." He waved off my concerns and said, "Just- I um, I wanted to say that I'm sorry."

I narrowed my eyes further at him. "For what?" I demanded.

"The way I've been since dad left." He mumbled.

I understood what he was saying now and nodded to myself. I didn't think he'd actually apologize for it though. He was a stubborn kid – kinda like myself – and it was weird to hear him apologize, especially since his attitude of pride and resentment had taken hold.

I waved away his concerns. "Don't sweat it." I saw in those green eyes that he wanted something more than that so I said, "You're my brother Ben. I'm not gonna let you being a douche for a few weeks change that. Neither is Matt, just so you know." I added knowing that Matt had already tried getting through to Ben right after the attack on Boston.

His eyes dropped to the ground and he kicked at the dirt.

"Got it?" I asked, gripping his elbow tightly.

He shook me off and nodded. "Yeah. I know." Then he looked up at me and I saw an unending vulnerability in his eyes.

It was so surprising that I had to catch my breath. I hadn't seen that in Ben for months now. It was . . . unnerving. Ben was our rock. Cold, distant, unmoving and unafraid. Seeing that he had his own fears and weaknesses sent a chill down my spine.

"Good." I regained my composure and hit him lightly on the arm. "Now let's get back to working on your aim."

He smiled at me but it looked like he was holding something back.

"Anything else?" I asked uncertainly. If there was something more this kid was keeping from me I wasn't sure I could handle it. This was definitely not the time for him to start opening up to me and knocking both of us off our game, but as his big brother and squad commander it was my job to make sure he was okay.

"No." He shook his head slowly, eyeing me with deep contemplation.

"Alright then." I nodded shortly – knowing that he'd just lied to me but also knowing that I was glad he did – and turned back to the cans.

That was when the shit storm hit like a ton of bricks.

One second I was turning and the next I was falling.

I heard the unmistakable screech of a Skitter and felt an enormous weight shove me down into the dirt.

My head hit the ground pretty hard and I was completely disoriented as I thrashed around and tried to break free of the weight on my chest.

I heard a rushing sound and faint shouting. It sounded far away but I knew that was Ben's voice.

I opened my mouth and tried to call out to him. My lips formed the words but my throat was so dry and I had no breath in my lungs, so it came out as a hoarse cough.

"Shit Hal!" I heard him again, this time the blood in my head had stopped rushing and it was clear that he was within a few feet. "Move!"

I struggled to pry my eyelids open and saw a bleary image of green above me.

"Skitters!" Someone else was yelling.

That knocked me back into the game and suddenly the image above me was as clear as day.

The Skitter's eyes were probably the most unsettling thing about the sight. Huge and black, they looked like endless voids of pain and suffering that were as wide and empty as space itself. Its facial features were grotesque and twisted, like a giant beetle with its mandibles and ridged forehead.

One moment I was staring into its eyes, not able to move because of its legs pinning me to the dirt and the next it toppled to the side.

I hadn't heard the shots until afterwards but there was dark Skitter goo covering my face and pretty much every other part of my body.

The sudden release of pressure on my chest sent me right into action.

I was on my feet in seconds and quickly surveyed the battlefield situation.

The Skitter hadn't come alone.

There were at least nine others scurrying out of the forest and closing in on me and Ben like a fisherman's net about to snare the daily catch. From somewhere a bit further off I heard the telltale roar of Mechs marching towards us.

Next thing I knew, I was running. Grabbing Ben by the arm I tore off in the direction of the house. Shelter. We needed shelter. If the Mechs arrived and we were in the open then we'd be mowed down. Or worse. Taken.

We ripped through the field at a startling speed that even Ben was probably surprised at.

At the back of the farmhouse I could see my squad gathering and firing off shots at the Skitters that were no doubt on our heels.

I could hear bullets whizzing past us but I had no time to worry about getting hit. I had to trust in the capability of my squad.

The sounds of hot lead crunching through exoskeletons and tearing up alien muscle were echoing from behind us and I realized that it must have been one of them who'd killed the Skitter on me.

Ben hadn't fired off a single shot.

That wasn't good and I was going to have to confront him later but at the moment that wasn't important. He was knew at this anyway and I couldn't blame him for being too scared to fight back. Even I'd frozen up a few times when firefights broke out.

As we drew closer to our destination I signaled for everyone to retreat into the house and take up defensive positions. The Skitters weren't going to give us a second to prepare.

By the time Ben and I came crashing through the front door and tumbling onto the carpet, the squad had done their job. I have to admit better than I expected.

A Skitter leapt through the front window – the glass exploding and sending shards in every direction – trying to catch me and my brother but it was stopped midair when my squad opened fire.

I think it was Maggie who got the shot right through its forehead but if any of us were asked no one would actually know how many shots they even fired off; never mind where they hit.

The only reason the heavy corpse of the alien didn't crush me like a bug was because Ben was on top of me and it crashed down onto his back – rolling off without bruising the kid.

I felt the instinct to ask him if he was okay but there was no time and I knew it was a dumb question. He could be hit by a tractor and he'd hit the ground running.

The two of us were up in a moment and taking up positions behind the kitchen counter.

Two more Skitters tried to break through our formation but we held the line.

I knew for a fact that there were more outside and every one of us could hear the squawk of their radio gibber.

"Injuries?" I called out. Taking my place as their commander.

"Nothing, boss." That was Anthony. "I'm good." Dai. "Negative." Maggie's voice came from upstairs. "No." I could tell Jimmy was trembling. "I'm fine." Rick offered without emotion.

I lifted a brow at Ben who was seated next to me; looking like he'd just seen a ghost.

He didn't offer anything in response. Just a blank, traumatized stare. But I didn't have time to be his counselor right now. I was his commander. Examining his body quickly I saw that besides a few cuts and scrapes he was good. There was a long cut in his arm from where a shard of glass had carved through the skin, but nothing urgent.

"Good. Ammo?" I asked.

Everyone called out their ammo. It wasn't much but we would have to make due.

"Anyone see anything?" I asked, peaking over the counter and trying to spot any sign of the hostiles.

Everyone answered in the negative.

But as the sounds of Mech stomps drew closer and closer we all knew what was going on. They were waiting for their cavalry.

We might be able to hold off Skitters using the house as a fortification but Mech bullets would rip through the knotted wood like it was tissue paper.

We needed a plan.

Without much thought I had it. It was risky and dangerous but it was our only hope of getting out of here alive.

"Alright listen up." I called, doing my best to imitate my dad's old command voice. "I've got a plan but it's risky."

"We're behind you Cap." Anthony gave his support.

"Then let's get to it." I said.

I knew that the Skitters weren't going to make another useless attempt on the house so I called everyone into the kitchen; where at least if anything went wrong we had enough cover to – hopefully – survive.

There I told everyone my plan.

"I'm staying." Maggie said immediately afterwards.

I looked over at her and saw the intent in her brown eyes. There was no challenging her decision.

"Okay." I nodded. "Then Dai I need you to get Ben, Jimmy, and Rick to the shed out back."

Dai nodded silently and put a hand on Ben's shoulder.

My brother immediately shook him off.

"I'm not going." He refused.

"Ben I gave you an order. We don't have time for this right now; we'll be right behind you." I wiped a hand down my face and displayed my annoyance clearly.

"You're right. We don't have time." Ben shot back like I hadn't been given the command position by Captain Weaver himself.

I met Maggie's eyes and though it seemed she shared my dislike of Ben's defiance she also had nothing to offer me. Same for Anthony and Dai.

So – knowing we had no time as the Mechs drew closer – I said, "Fine. Dai get Rick and Jimmy out there. We'll cover you."

The oldest member of our group took the orders without question and moved over to the front door with the two youngest boys.

Me, Ben, Maggie and Anthony all took up positions along the front of the house and tried to see where the Skitters had gone.

None of us could see anything but we all heard the Mechs getting closer. We didn't have time to wait it out.

"Go now!" I ordered; sending the three of them off towards the shed at a sprint.

The moment they were out of cover the Skitters appeared. A few dropped from the side of the house and some others seemed to come out of nowhere. Despite this Dai and the boys were ahead of them and that gave us the space we needed.

"Fire!" I commanded. "Make every shot count!"

Each of us – including Ben this time – opened up on the Skitters.

The barrage of bullets slowed them down and gave the others time to get into the safety of the old shed out back.

We killed two Skitters and took out the legs on another; effectively crippling it. The handful of others retreated into a more defensible position along the tree line and I ordered my squad to stop firing. We couldn't waste ammo and they were too far away for our shots to kill or even wound them.

A minute later we could hear engines roaring to life and saw the Skitters' attention turn back to the shed.

The only thing that kept them from overwhelming Dai's position was us four fighting them off from the house. But once the Mechs arrived the game would change and we'd all be done for.

"Dai you ready!?" I hollered out the broken window.

"All good!" The reply came without hesitation.

"Anthony." The one word was all that was necessary to send him off after the others. This time the bastards didn't even try to toe the line. They knew what was going on and that their only hope was the fast approaching Mechs.

Seconds later I needed to send the final member and a decision was forced on me.

I looked over at Ben and Maggie and knew that I needed to put one of them in even more danger.

Either would do as I commanded at this point and I could see the stress in both of their postures. They were afraid – whether they'd ever admit that or not – and I was their leader, despite my own fears. I needed to make an unbiased decision on who had the best odds. And without much thought I knew the answer.

"Maggie." I said, earning a genuinely surprised look. But it was gone without much hesitation and she got ready to run.

She had no trouble in reaching the group either and I knew that they were preparing the evacuation right away. But there was no time left. I was right in thinking that there was only time for one more of us to go.

The stomping machines were now on the field and marching towards the house with their targeting beams trying to lock onto us.

"Down Ben!" I ordered, grabbing the back of his neck as tightly as I could and shoving him onto the ground.

"What're we gonna do?" He asked. He was trying to maintain his self-control and I must admit that he did a pretty good job for a fourteen year old, but it was easy to spot the fear in his eyes and the strain in his jaw.

"Don't worry about it." I said, trying to fake composure. "They'll be here in a sec. We just need to distract the Mechs."

"How many were there?" He asked me with shocking maturity.

"Three." I responded, trying to think of a way to distract them without putting Ben or any of the others in more danger.

Then we both heard the squawk from upstairs. We only had a second to prepare before the Skitter lunged down towards us from over the banister. The damn thing must've crawled in through one of the upstairs windows.

I stared up at it as it hurtled towards me at a bone breaking speed. If it had crashed into me then I probably would've been completely crippled but Ben had a sudden burst of courage and leapt towards it.

The two slammed into one another in midair and Ben's hands immediately clawed for the creature's face.

I was still ducked down next to the window and from outside came a whole slew of orange targeting lasers trying to lock onto Ben. The struggle with the Skitter made it difficult but I knew I needed to do something.

Taking a deep breath I dove for the front door and peaked out; opening fire on the Mechs.

They were done with Ben without a second thought and all attention turned to me.

I don't know how I survived the next few seconds. All I knew was that the machines had completely devastated the house with their superior firing power and that I was lucky to have survived the onslaught.

I said a silent thanks to whatever luck had just saved my life and turned to Ben, who was still fighting off the Skitter. Ben might be part alien now and have amazing strength and speed but the thing he was fighting was full alien and it had six legs. He was no match for it.

The Skitter had turned the tables and was now crushing Ben's chest with one of its legs while it prepared to strike at his face with its claw.

I charged it from behind and slammed the butt of my rifle down onto its head. I heard a crunching sound and knew that I broke something in it.

Ben seized the opportunity and slid free of the alien's grasp; pulling his knife from his belt and plunging it into the depths of the Skitter's brain.

We both paused at the silence that fell over us. It was dead. Neither of us could believe we'd just survived that.

Then we heard the engines coming around the side of the house and knew we had no time to waste.

I grabbed my brother's wrist and jerked his knife free from the Skitter's mouth, before pushing him out the front door.

By the time we were on the porch the squad was maneuvering and organizing our escape.

Maggie zipped back and forth in serpentine motions on her motorcycle to draw the attention of the Mechs, while Anthony was on my motorcycle luring the remaining Skitters towards the far end of the field.

Dai was driving the old red pickup truck, with Jimmy and Rick in the back. He slowed down just enough for me and Ben to dive into the bed and then sped off again.

Behind us Maggie and Anthony were making their last turn before catching up.

One of the Mechs fired off a rocket at Maggie but it missed her by a good twenty feet; instead hitting the farmhouse and turning what was left of our temporary home into a pile of smoldering wood and ashes.

Our vehicles were plenty faster than the aliens and within a minute they began to disappear from sight.

I saw Maggie grinning like a child who'd just won her favorite game as she pulled up alongside us.

I shook my head but smiled despite of my racing heart.

"Back to camp, Dai!" I hollered up to him in the front seat.

At the moment there was a slightly manic, relieved, joking quality about the situation but I knew that something terrible had just happened.

A normal alien patrol was two Mechs at most and never over six Skitters. There was almost double that today. The only conclusion was that that was no passing patrol.

That meant the Skitters had known our location prior to the attack. And that meant that we were in some deep shit.


	4. Pyrrhic Victory

**Authors Note - Sorry for taking so long to update, I've been really busy with schoolwork lately.**

**Thanks again to my reviewers, you guys are great. xxMandixx, your reviews are always the first I get and I'm so grateful that you chose to follow my story and have from the beginning. JDMlvr1, I'm glad you liked it and I hope you like this chapter as well. Origin of the Purge, (cool name btw) thank you and I'll do my best to update more consistently. I've just been pretty focused on getting back into the groove with all my school work, driving lessons, and cherishing my few minutes of free time lately lol. Greg, I'm really happy that you think so. I'm pretty worried about how I write the action scenes and it sort of gives me reassurance knowing that you think I'm doing an alright job.**

**I think that this is my worst chapter so far. Mostly because it's a lot of action and I think that when I write action it drags on and comes out choppy. I'm better at one-on-one conversations or interactions and there will be plenty of that later on. But don't let my humble opinion stop anyone from reading or reviewing, there are a few moments in here that I like and contribute the story as a whole, especially the development of the boys' relationship. So, as always, criticism and encouragement are both whole-heartedly and equally welcomed. If anyone has any tips to help me better my actions scenes then I would be endlessly grateful. R&R!**

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4. Pyrrhic Victory

We could hear the gunshots long before we reached the mall where the rest of the 2nd Mass was camped out.

"What's going on?" Jimmy asked; looking at me with wide blue eyes.

I shook my head and continued to stare off at the flashing lights that were coming from the mall's entrance. I didn't have an answer for the kid right now and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have liked it if I had.

"Anthony!" I called, getting the former cop's attention and causing him to slow down and match the speed of the truck. "Go check out the situation! Turn back if it gets too heavy!"

He didn't offer any verbal response but he rode off ahead of us and disappeared around a bend in the road.

I stood up and banged on the cab of the truck, letting Dai know to pull over. Maggie saw what I was doing and followed as Dai slowed to a stop under an overpass.

I hopped out of the truck and heard Ben right behind me.

I knew that he wanted to be a part of whatever decision was made instead of being left out like Jimmy and Rick. So I moved to the side a bit and let him stand in between me and Maggie as the three of us and Dai formed a circle.

"They found us." Maggie said grimly; darting a glance towards where smoke was rising from the location of the mall.

"How?" Dai questioned.

None of us had a sufficient answer.

I scratched the back of my head and said, "That's not important right now. We need to get over there and help them."

"Why are we waiting then?" Ben asked.

I looked over at him and said, "Because I'm not going to rush in there and get any of my squad killed. We need to know what's going on first."

"Hal, we can't wait." Ben argued with me.

I knew exactly how he felt. If dad were still here then I'd probably be right alongside him – arguing for a frontal assault – not caring about the rationality of charging in with guns blazing.

I set my eyes on his and made my point clear. "We're not going anywhere until Anthony gets back. I'm not going to risk yours or anyone else's life without knowing what we're getting into."

"Our lives are already at risk!" Ben cried. "And they need our help!" He flung a hand towards the direction of the firefight.

"I'm your commander Ben. Now stand down." I replied calmly but with a strong authoritative tone in my voice. Dad would've been proud.

"No!" His eyes had something dangerous in them. "I won't! They need us!"

That was it. He wasn't obeying my direct orders and I was getting tired of it.

"Oh yeah?" I scoffed. "Where the hell was your courage earlier?"

I shouldn't have said it but he wasn't listening to orders or respecting the chain of command and I knew it would get through to him.

Whatever I'd seen in his eyes was gone and was replaced by hurt and shame. That was gone in a flash though as he covered it up with the coldness that he'd just begun to break free of.

He stormed off down the road and I watched him go; feeling sorry but not showing any signs of remorse. I needed to be a leader right now. Dad wouldn't want me to show weakness or indecision.

I turned to Maggie and was satisfied to see that she was showing no emotion either. She knew what was at stake here.

"He's right." I said. "They do need us and we need to get over there. Once Anthony gets back we'll find a way to help."

Both Maggie and Dai nodded.

"Okay, get ready. He should be back in a minute." I turned around and went to make sure that Rick and Jimmy were prepared.

"What happened with Ben?" Jimmy questioned me immediately when I got to them – shooting a worried look around the bend in the road.

I lifted a brow at him.

"I mean, sorry, I uh, sir . . . is he okay?" The thirteen year old stumbled over his words and tried to form a coherent sentence.

I waved him off with a slight smirk. Jimmy was always so nervous about everything and sometimes I couldn't help but to mess with the kid. But I did like that he was looking out for Ben.

"He's fine. Just being brooding, but what else is new?"

"Can I?" He looked off after where Ben had gone. "Just to make sure he's okay?"

I looked at the blue eyed boy for a few long seconds; making him uncomfortable under my heavy gaze. But I couldn't find any reason as to why not so I nodded my consent. "Just be quick."

He rushed off immediately. "Thank you, sir."

I glanced at Rick and noticed him staring off in silence. Now that kid was unsettling.

But I needed to give him a little credit. After betraying us and giving our position away to the enemy, he'd seemed to make a change for the better. He took up arms against the aliens and I'd even seen him kill a Skitter or two when we were retreating from Acton.

My thoughts were interrupted when Jimmy came running towards us; shouting something that just came out as a bunch of gibberish.

"Whoa, whoa, Jimmy man. Slow down." I jogged over to him and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "What's the problem?"

He doubled over and put his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "Ben!" He finally gasped.

My face dropped. "What about Ben?" I demanded.

"I can't find him!" Jimmy cried, lifting his head and choking out the words.

"Shit." I hissed and dragged Jimmy over to the truck, rushing him into the bed before climbing into the cab. "Dai go. We need to get down there now."

"What's going on?" Dai asked, but did so while following my orders.

"Ben's doing something stupid." That seemed to answer all his questions and he revved the engine as the truck roared to life.

I knew exactly what my dumbass brother was doing right now. It was the same thing I would've done in his position and we needed to stop him before he got himself killed.

By the time we pulled up to the mall parking lot the gunfire had died down and a deadly silence filled the air.

The scene we witnessed was disheartening to say the least.

Overturned cars were on fire and there was devastation everywhere. The stink of death hung heavy in the air and there was blood and corpses scattered throughout the perimeter.

The parking lot had definitely seen a major battle and by the looks of it the survivors couldn't be far.

Dai killed the engine and Maggie followed suit.

In a moment all five of us were standing in front of the truck – weapons at the ready – and scanning the lot for any movement.

"See anything?" I asked and received negative answers from each. "Alright then, spread out. Search the area; we need to know if anyone survived."

We spent a good ten minutes turning over every stone in that parking lot but found nothing except destruction, scorch marks, fragments of Mechs that were blown up, the carcasses of dead Skitters, and bodies. A lot of bodies.

The hardest part was that I recognized each and every one of them. I'd been on scouts, patrols, and sentry duty with almost all of them at some point. It almost made me miss the times when I knew none of the dead. When we were so numerous that I didn't feel a thing when another fighter was killed in battle. But now our numbers were down and we all knew each other.

The pavement of the parking lot was painted in the blood of both Skitter and Man.

I could hear Jimmy gagging and sent Dai to make sure he was okay.

Maggie came up beside me and I lowered my head.

"No one's here." She said quietly after seeing that I wouldn't admit it first.

I nodded; more frantically than I would've liked. "I know." I held back a sob that built in my throat. Taking a deep, shaky breath I said, "I know."

I felt her hand on my arm. "We need to keep moving. If anyone survived then they're not far, and they'll need our help."

"You're right." I said.

She watched me for another moment and I could feel her eyes scanning me for any sign of mental fatigue. "What are you afraid of?" Her voice drifted over me like singing wind chimes.

I didn't answer right away. I simply stared down at the dead man on the ground at my feet. Then I took a deep breath and shook my head. "Nothing. Let's go."

We were just getting back to the vehicles when the sound of motorcycles came roaring towards us.

"Get down!" I ordered my squad before running into the street and waving down the group of four.

They saw me and rolled to a stop.

"Affiliation and purpose." I called out the standard greeting the Captain had given us all to identify friendlies.

One of the fighters, a short but solid man with scruffy stubble and a southern twang stood and looked at me; sizing me up. "Squad Tango 9-, I suppose that's Tango 4 Charlie Whiskey Lima, now." He glanced back at his surviving squad mates. "Our post was overrun and we came to report back to command. Now why don't you tell me who I'm dealing with."

I shook my head and smirked cynically. "You're a little late to get in on the action." I gestured to some of the still-smoking cars in the parking lot. "Squad Hotel 7 Delta Mike Alpha Bravo Juliet Romeo. We were overrun too."

"7?" He asked, raising a brow at me. "Where's the rest of your squad kid?"

"Fall in!" I called and we all watched as Dai, Maggie, Jimmy, and Rick came out of cover.

He examined them all for a moment before looking back to me. "I still only count five of y'all."

"My brother – Ben – ran off and we sent another scout ahead to check out the area. He hasn't reported back yet." I said and then approached him with my hand thrust outwards. "I'm Hal." I shook his hand.

"The name's Tector." He chewed his tongue and then spit. "Hal?" He questioned. "And Ben? You must be Mason's boy."

I nodded my head slowly, but didn't say anything. I definitely didn't want to get into a conversation about my father right now.

He seemed to sense this and only said shortly, "Your father was a good man." Then a professionalism overtook him with military precision. "Report on the situation."

"There was a battle." I said. "Heavy casualties on both sides, but no one left here."

"Any sign of where the survivors might have gone?" He asked.

The answer came in the form of gunshots from a distance.

I gestured in the direction of the sound and grinned as I backed away. "Over there." I turned and jogged back to my squad as they readied up without even waiting for the order.

Moments later Dai was driving the truck with me, Jimmy and Rick in the bed; while we trailed Maggie, Tector and his squad on their motorcycles.

The gunshots were coming from a park in the center of the town.

We pulled up alongside the green and I immediately jumped out of the back of the truck and raced towards the sounds. I could hear my squad chasing after me and calling for me to stop and go in with a plan but there was no time for that. I wasn't going to let the Skitters wipe us out again.

I came into a small clearing alongside a pond and saw Skitters swarming a large group of people who had taken up defensive positions by the water's edge.

Aiming my Galil at the nearest Skitter I put a few shots right through its head.

I took down another two before they caught sight of me. But by that time it was already too late for them. The fighters by the water saw their chance when I began to draw the aliens' attention and everyone opened up.

The remaining Skitters dropped like flies as mine and Tector's squads broke through the tree line.

I glanced over and met Tector's eyes. It was clear that he was pissed at missing the fight but both of us were relieved to see the survivors.

My eyes roamed the crowd as we neared them – searching for Ben and Anthony. And against my suspicions and doubts I found both of them in the group; each looking like they were in one piece and not completely ripped to shreds.

"Ben!" I called as I ran towards the two of them.

My squad decided to stick with Tector as he approached the group in the correct manner instead of charging straight in without proper protocol.

Ben saw me and the two of us met up in the center of the throng of people. I clasped his shoulder and smiled at his dirt streaked face.

"Run off again and I swear to God I'll kill you." I laughed but fell silent when he didn't join in on my relief. For the first time I realized that he probably wouldn't be all that grateful for the rescue.

But he just shook his head. "The civilians." He said.

I felt dread creep up my spine and my senses grew numb.

Distantly I could hear Tector going through the motions with the man who seemed to be in charge of this group and then Dai – filling in for me as squad commander – doing the same.

But all I could think of were Ben's words. _"The civilians." _Matt was a civilian . . . And he wasn't here.

Tector and the other man were now conversing loudly but none of it reached my ears. Ben was also continuing on but I couldn't hear him either.

All I could hear was the sound of blood rushing inside my skull as I played the words in my mind over and over again. _"The civilians."_

That was until I began to pick up pieces of Tector's conversation.

"Holed up . . . apartment building . . . not far . . . extraction . . . convoy . . . urgent . . ."

It didn't sound like a conversation about almost 200 civilians massacred to me and with tentative relief I began to feel my senses come back to me.

"Hal?" Ben was staring at me with caution. "You listening? We need to move. They need us."

"The civilians?" I asked dumbly before asking more directly. "Matt?"

"Yes Matt you idiot." Ben narrowed his eyes at me. "Are you alright?"

I waved him off. "M' fine." I mumbled and looked over my shoulder to where my squad was waiting for me. "Let's go." I said. "Anthony!" I called into the crowd of faces.

"Right here Cap!" He appeared out of the crowd with a slight limp.

"What happened?" I paused long enough to ask.

He shook his head and dismissed my concern. "Ran over a piece of junk metal during the fight. My bike threw me over the handlebars and I might've sprained my ankle. Nothing serious." Then he glanced at Ben with wariness in his eyes. "Not even close to what little Mason went through. I'm surprised you can even walk right now."

My gaze turned to Ben.

He too dismissed me like a grown man dismisses his mother when she asks about some minor injury. "I'm fine."

I shook my head with a heavy sigh but the crowd was beginning to move so I knew I'd better get my squad back together and find out where we were going.

"An apartment building a few blocks over." Dai informed me. "They sent the civilians with a small security attachment there while the majority of the fighters hung back in the park to take a stand."

I took in the info as my squad piled into our vehicles.

Dai was driving the truck with Anthony in the passenger seat – because of his injury and the loss of the bike – Maggie took her bike, and me, Ben, Jimmy and Rick were all in the back again.

Ben filled me in on all the details as we made haste to the apartment building.

After the aliens made an attack on the mall shit went down the tubes fast.

A few squads tried holding them off at the entrance while Captain Weaver planned an escape for the civilians but the Mechs had too much firepower and we lost people in droves. Weaver made a decision and had two more squads escort all civilians to the huge convoy of vehicles we kept in the rear parking lot.

A lot of fighters lost their lives trying to buy the civilians time to escape but they did eventually beat the aliens back enough to give the convoy room.

The 2nd Mass then did their best to retreat but they were taking heavy losses from behind and if they continued on the way they had been then there would've been nothing left of them by the time they reached the city limits.

Weaver always had rash plans but it surprised everyone when he ordered a full-scale abandonment of the convoy. His reasoning behind it had been that it made them too slow and bulky and that if they hoped to survive then they needed to be able to move quick and with dexterity.

The Captain himself then took all the civilians to hold up in the apartment building while the fighters were ordered to ambush the aliens in the park. After that the Captain's orders were to regroup, retake the convoy and extract the civilians before making a – hopefully – clean getaway.

We were commencing the last phase of his plan as mine and Tector's squads caught up with the rest of the vehicles and we proceeded over to the extraction sight.

When we pulled up to the building it finally sank in on me that today was not our day.

There were a few fighters lying in pools of their own blood out front and claw marks on the frame of the front door – which had been ripped off the hinges and tossed a few yards down the sidewalk.

"Fuck." I hissed and jumped out of the truck.

The other squad leaders and I formed a small circle near the front of the convoy. It was here that I learned that what had happened to mine and Tector's squads were not isolated incidents. The same thing had happened all over and to almost all of us.

I noticed the man who was leading the conversation and felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. I didn't know how I hadn't seen him leading the group earlier – I would've thought I'd recognize him anywhere after all the crap he put me and my dad through.

Lieutenant Danner took in everyone's stories with an unnerving sense of calm, before formulating a plan of his own.

"Alright." He nodded matter-of-factly, "A few of you will stay out here and prepare for a quick evacuation." His eyes blazed with a commanding intensity. "When I say quick I mean light speed. The moment we get the civilians out I want to be gone. Miles clear of this place. Do you understand me?"

Everyone – grudgingly including myself – answered with "Yes sir."

"I'll take in a small team to clear out the building and find whatever survivors we can." He continued. "Volunteers?"

I immediately raised my hand. Matt was in that building and I didn't trust anyone but myself to get him out.

Lt. Danner seemed pleased with his crop of volunteers until he saw me among them.

He shook his head. "No way am I going to take a child in there. Especially a spoiled Mason brat."

I glared back at him. "I'm a squad commander." I said. "Same as the rest of you. You've got no right-"

"I'm the Captain's second." He cut me off. "I've got every right. I'm not risking the lives of my men so that you can have a cool new story to tell."

"Lieutenant." One of the other men stepped in.

Danner shot him an impatient look.

"With all due respect sir; I've seen Mason in action and I do believe that he'd be a valuable addition to our team."

I recognized the man as Ryerson. His squad had been stationed far from us and I hadn't seen him since Boston, but he'd apparently witnessed my charge on the Skitters at the park.

"Is that so?" Danner looked unconvinced.

"Lieutenant." Tector drawled.

He got the same look.

"I agree with Ryerson, sir." Tector's eyes darted to meet mine and I saw unwavering support there. "Mason has seen as much combat as most of us."

Grumblings of agreement spread throughout the other commanders and Danner soon caved.

He looked to me and I saw a glimmer of respect there.

"You screw up and I'll have your head, understand?"

I nodded. "Yes sir." I still hated the man's guts but it was enough that he'd given me a chance.

Those of us who were going in quickly prepared and checked our ammo before gathering at the front door.

It was me, Lt. Danner, his second Schlatter, Ryerson and another commander, O'Neil.

"Hal!" I heard Ben's voice and the five of us stopped just as we were about to proceed.

I turned and saw Ben barreling towards us.

"Ben?" He stopped right before us. "What's the matter?"

"I'm coming with you." He said, hefting his assault rifle at his side.

Behind me Danner sighed in anger and mumbled something about another kid trying to strong-arm his way into adult business.

I shook my head – despite my urge to piss of the Lt. even more – "No way." I said. "Wait out here. I'll be back with Matt soon."

"No." Ben denied stubbornly. The determination in his young eyes was familiar. "I'm coming."

His complete lack of obedience and respect for those above him in the chain of command was getting more irritating with every refusal to follow orders.

"Ben you can't-" I tried to reason with him but he wasn't having it.

"I can." He argued.

"Mason!" Danner called out. "We don't have time for this!"

I felt my cheeks heat as people started to stare. Anger boiled in my stomach and I wanted to lay into Ben right there. But something held me back; I didn't know what at the time but I just couldn't bring myself to yell at him. It might've been that he reminded me so much of myself that I felt empathy, it might've been that I didn't want to embarrass him or something entirely different, but the bottom-line was I couldn't do it.

Ryerson saw my hesitation and said, "Lieutenant, I say we bring along the other Mason boy."

I didn't have to look to see the incredulous look in Danner's eyes. What I could see though was the eager one in Ben's.

"Sir, we have no time to debate and this way the two of them can look out for each other and you won't have to worry about watching anyone." I heard Ryerson's voice but I couldn't believe what he'd said.

My anger soared as he lumped me in with Ben as someone who needed to be looked after. I'd finally felt like I had gained some sort of credibility with these men and then Ben came in and pulled me down to his level.

Danner grunted something and said, "Let's go then."

I had no time to be pissed. Everyone was inside the building in seconds and I had to scramble after them. Even Ben left me in the dust and I almost couldn't believe what had just happened.

"Stay close!" Danner hissed and led the group down a long corridor.

The inside of the building was illuminated softly by the light coming in from broken windows but as we traveled deeper into the depths of it the darkness enveloped us.

By the time we reached the building manager's desk – situated in a large room, two tiers high, with balconies overhanging each side – the light had completely diminished and we relied completely on our flashlights.

It was here where Danner said Weaver was supposed to set up his command center, but we found nothing.

"Keep tight." Danner ordered lowly. "Search the perimeter."

I moved off a few feet from the others but kept close enough that I wouldn't get reprimanded by the Lieutenant.

I shined my flashlight on the floor but saw nothing. It definitely looked like there had been some kind of scuffle here but there were no scorch marks or gaping holes in the walls, only overturned furniture and abandoned weapons.

But then I saw something . . . else.

Something glimmered in the light as I scanned a corner of the room and I had to do a double take before I was certain of what the dark liquid on the floor was.

Bile rose in my throat but I kept it down long enough to spot something else in the beam of the flashlight.

I wasn't sure at first but when I focused the beam on the spot I knew that it was a hand – slick with blood.

In the corner of the room laid a pile of bodies; thrown on top of each other carelessly and dripping with dark blood.

"Shit!" I stumbled backwards into somebody – I'm not sure who – and caught hold of their wrist.

Without warning the squawk of Skitters filled the room and I caught glimpses of them swarming us in the light.

"Skitters!" Someone yelled as the room filled with the sounds of gunfire and struggle.

I had no idea how they filled the room that quickly – probably from the balconies above – but we were overwhelmed in seconds.

"Fall back!" Danner ordered and I made out his form in the darkness, heading towards the hallway.

Out of the darkness in front of me a Skitter appeared and flung me to the ground. Without a thought I fired several shots into its chest and it dropped to the side like a giant mutant fly.

I was on my feet immediately and chasing after Danner until I heard, "Hal!"

_Ben was still in the room._

I turned on my heel and rushed at the sound of his voice. I hit something hard and knew that I'd have a nasty bruise in the morning. The creature I struck was the Skitter that had taken ahold of Ben and the force of me running into it gave Ben the chance to wriggle free.

Its large claws clutched at me and I felt pain rip through my body as it tore through my calf muscle.

"Shit!" I hissed and tumbled to the ground.

"Hal!" Ben's voice was panicked and without warning the Skitter was gone. I had seen Ben's shape fly towards it but I didn't know what happened after that.

I attempted to stand up and find Ben but my leg gave out underneath me and I crumpled to the floor.

Fear filled my veins but just when I was certain I was about to be killed, a familiar hand grabbed my arm. Ben threw my arm over his shoulder and rushed me to my feet before wrapping an arm around my waist and racing us out of the room.

We flew down the hall at a pace I couldn't keep up with and Ben ended up supporting almost all of my weight as he dragged me along at a heart racing speed. We caught up with Danner and the others within seconds and we all ducked into a nearby apartment; slamming the door behind us.

The room didn't have much light but there was enough to see that not all of us were here.

I wasn't sure who was missing at first until I heard O'Neil say, "Where's Schlatter?"

"What?" Danner deadpanned.

"Schlatter." O'Neil glanced about us. "He's not here."

"God damn it!" Danner roared; kicking the thick door in anger. I couldn't read his eyes in the thin light but I was sure that there was nothing good there.

I hadn't noticed the tension in Ben until now. Our sides were pressed together because he was still holding me up and I could almost feel each muscle in his body taut and strained.

I gave him a light squeeze on the hip; doing my best to comfort him at what had just happened. Considering he'd never participated in a firefight before today and in the span of a few hours he'd seen more than his fair share of major battles, I couldn't blame him in the least for being on edge.

"You!" Danner roared. I wasn't sure who he was speaking to until I saw the outline of his finger leveled at my brother. "You fucking razorback! It's your fault!"

I was so shocked at the outburst at first that I stood next to Ben; frozen.

"Lieutenant-" Ryerson made an attempt to step in.

"No!" Danner bellowed. "I'll kill you!" He lunged at Ben but was held back by Ryerson.

I pushed Ben backwards – instinctually – and did my best to stand on my own feet in front of him. My leg gave out but I caught myself and struggled to my feet again.

"Touch my brother and you'll regret it." I spat; trying to make my voice as threatening as possible, but the hiss of pain that squeaked out definitely hindered that.

"You fucking traitor! You killed Schlatter!"

"Danner!" Ryerson shouted, shaking the man to his senses. "Calm the fuck down! We have a situation here!"

As if to emphasize his point something slammed against the other side of the door and almost knocked it from its hinges.

Danner shot me a glare and with the help of my flashlight I saw that whatever minor ounce of respect I'd earned earlier was completely diminished. I was now his enemy.

"Take positions!" He ordered, his survival instinct taking over and temporarily overriding his fury.

Ben helped me over to the side of the room and I felt him lean into me as he did. It was something he hadn't done in a while but we both still knew what it meant. It was the subtle way he'd always let me know that he'd gotten over whatever made him angry with me in the past and that we were a team again. Brothers; no matter how stupid either of us had been acting.

I offered a quick squeeze of his shoulder in response and we were as good as new. Completely mended and better than before.

Right now we just needed to get through this and find Matt.

Another slam on the door and I heard metal snap.

Ben set me down and took aim on the door; ready to fire on any aliens that came at us.

I too leaned up on my elbow and got ready.

Just before the last slam that would've sent the door flying off its hinges and flooded the room with Skitters; gunfire filled the hall.

I think it surprised all of us as not even Danner made a move towards the door.

The sounds of struggle in the corridor died down after a moment and we all waited with baited breath for something to come through the door.

That something came in the form of a man who pushed open the door. The hinges were so weak that it collapsed backwards with a crash.

Flashlights immediately shined in the man's face and the Captain shielded his eyes.

"Get those things out of my face damn it!" He growled.

"Captain?" Danner sounded like a child.

Weaver nodded at his second sternly. "Let's go."


	5. Fortune Favors The Bold

**Author's Note - Sorry for this chapter being a little on the short side, it's just a sort of transitional thing to prepare you guys for the next one. And I promise that the next one will be ALOT better than this. It's actually one of my favorites.**

**Another big thanks to my readers, followers, and reviewers. 13Densi13, why thank you kind sir. Greg, If I haven't said it before then I just wanted you to know that your reviews are some of the most helpful that I've ever received for anything and I hope to see a lot more of you around. The time this takes place in is about two weeks after the attack on Boston when Tom gets on the ship and leaves. It's before Fitchburg happened and in this story Fitchburg won't actually take place. I read Fitchburg but apparently not close enough because I never noticed that Danner died in it. I just thought that the show dropped him after Mutiny and pretended like he never existed. Wow, thanks for clearing that up for me. That's cool, I'm reading sugarcandyaddiction's First Patrol right now, the prequel to Fire Light, and I'm doing my best to catch up. Thanks for the offer and I'm sure I'll take you up on it in the near future.**

**Now as I said above, Fitchburg and Season 2 do not and will not happen in this story. Unlike TNT and the producers I will not be killing off all your favorite characters by impaling them, torturing them, or having them eaten inside out by alien insects. I'll do it in more creative ways ;). So don't freak out when you see Jimmy, Dai, Rick, Jamil, Uncle Scott, Boon, Sarah and Charlotte (Not sure on their status) walking around the camp, zombies haven't also attacked. Not yet anyway lol.**

**Ok, now go read! R&R**

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5. Fortune Favors The Bold

The mood in the Captain's tent was somber but professional as we stood in a circle around a table with a map of western Massachusetts on it.

"How many?" The Captain grumbled; his voice swollen with emotion.

"Forty three." Dr. Anne Glass answered with her head low.

Weaver took this information in without moving an inch but we all saw the endless sorrow in his experienced eyes.

We'd been on the run all night from the aliens that were constantly nipping at our heels, but we broke away a few hours ago and had heard nothing from them since.

The Captain knew that we couldn't just keep on running so he ordered us to halt for an hour while he met with a small group to plan our next move.

That small group consisted of me, Dr. Glass, Uncle Scott, Lt. Danner, Ryerson, Dai, and a few other men handpicked by the Captain.

Honestly the number Anne had stated gave me a shot of ashamed relief. I thought we'd lost over a hundred in the attack. Forty three was a lot of people but not nearly as much as I feared.

The Captain shook his head and cleared his throat. "We will not forget their sacrifice." He assured us all. "But their sacrifice will be worth nothing if we wait around here; kicking at the dirt and asking why until the aliens wipe us out. So we need to move. The only thing left to decide is where to." He turned to look at Dr. Glass. "What're our medical priorities, Dr. Glass?"

Anne's caring brown eyes were weighed down with sleep deprivation and loss. "Winter's closing in fast." She said slowly. "It's only a matter of time before the flu starts spreading around. The best thing we could do for the civilians is to find a warm place to hunker down for the winter."

"Hunkering down for months would require a lot of fuel and food." The Captain said.

"We've got fuel Captain." Uncle Scott interrupted in his raspy old voice. "Enough to get us pretty far too."

Bolstered by this news I said, "If we could find a place to hide out for the winter then we could start fighting back again. Like at the school."

"Excuse me Captain," Danner cut in. "But whose idea was it to let him attend?"

Since we left the town I had felt Danner shooting daggers at me no matter where I went or what I did. I didn't even spend much time with Matt when I found him because I didn't want him to get sucked into my new rivalry. Instead I had Ben follow Matt around like being his bodyguard was his new post.

"It was mine Lieutenant." Weaver said roughly. "And I stand by it."

Danner shook his head in exasperation. "He's a kid." He tried to argue.

"Focus on the issue at hand, Lieutenant." The Captain ended the conversation about me, but not without making me feel like a child at the adult's table.

But at least it was done with for now. No one questioned the Captain in the 2nd Mass, at least not since my father disappeared. I suppose that's why I'd been invited to the meeting. Maybe he was hoping that I'd fill in for my father and start challenging him.

If so then he'd be disappointed. As of right now I had no qualms with anything he did. None of us would. Not after the miracle he'd pulled off at the apartment building.

The story spread like wildfire once we were on the move.

After the Skitters rushed the building and killed many in a surprise attack, Weaver quickly got his small group of fighters into a formation and held the aliens off long enough for the civilians to get secured in the basement. Then he fell back and carried out ambushes on the Skitters in the various intertwining dark hallways. When he heard our struggle going on he came – alone – and rescued us.

"Captain," Ryerson leaned forward and rested his palms on the table. "If I may step in, I'd like to draw attention to the issue of keeping the civilians fed and warm. How are we supposed to prevent hypothermia when the snow comes and keep our bellies full when we pick the area clean?"

We all turned at once when we heard a gasp from one end of the table.

Uncle Scott had his hand pressed to his mouth and his eyes held some sort of grand epiphany in their elderly depths.

"What is it?" Weaver asked.

"I know a place." He said like it was the craziest idea anyone had ever heard.

The Captain stared at him blankly. "Well then?" He prodded. "Out with it."

"My old summer camp." The old man stuttered but held out his hand and began to tick off his fingers. "It's defensible and surrounded by a thick forest, there's a lake for fresh water, it's got plenty of wood to burn, there's always wildlife around to hunt and plenty of room for all of us."

All of us must've looked pretty stupid; standing there and gaping at him. We'd never even thought of a camp.

But the Captain was the sensible one and the first to question this candy-coated Zion we'd just been presented with.

"Now wait a second, Scott. How do you know this place even still exists? It's been a while since you've been to a summer camp I assume." He asked skeptically.

Scott shook his head. "I used to visit it each summer and check up on things. I was actually preparing for the trip before all of this happened." He laughed slightly. "Who knew an old man reliving his past glory might be what gets us through this winter."

Weaver still seemed wary of embracing the idea.

"Captain if Uncle Scott's right then this could exactly what we need right now." Anne supported the plan with all her heart.

"This is ridiculous." Danner threw a hand up. "What we need to do is fight back."

"Lieutenant." Weaver stopped him with one word and turned back to Scott with narrowed eyes. "Where is this camp?"

"In the Berkshires, sir."

The Captain looked down at his hands and twisted at the strings of his compass. "That's a long haul." He said thoughtfully. "If we do go then we'd be risking everything on this place."

"Captain with all due respect we're already risking everything." Anne said.

Weaver shot her a hard look but seemed impressed with her spirit after a moment. A pregnant pause followed before he said, "We'll put it to a vote. Who here is in favor Scott's camp?"

Uncle Scott and Anne raised their hands.

"And opposed?"

Lt. Danner and one of the other men raised their hands.

The Captain looked conflicted and glanced around at us. "Well?" He asked. "What about the rest of you?"

"I think it's risky." Ryerson said. "But I'm hard pressed to think of anything else."

"Is that an endorsement Ryerson?" He asked.

Ryerson held his breath for a bit before releasing it in a rush and nodding his head adamantly. "Yes. We have no other options."

At Ryerson's testimonial the others seemed to give it more thought and two of Weaver's other men voiced their support of the plan.

"What about you Mason?"

I looked up at the Captain and stared into his weary eyes for a few seconds. The plan seemed pretty solid to me from the start but doubts were swirling around in my head. If we got there and there was nothing left of it, or worse if it was crawling with Skitters then we'd have no chance. But if we didn't go then it seemed like we'd simply sit here and wait for our extermination to come.

In the end I let Ben and Matt make my decision for me. If we stayed then they'd be dead or harnessed within the week. If we listened to Uncle Scott's plan then they might have a chance.

"I don't see any other options." I mumbled slowly as I shook my head back and forth. "I say we give it a shot."

After speaking I felt pain shoot up my leg and stumbled a bit; catching myself on the table.

Everyone else looked at me but I nodded and held a hand up. "M'fine."

My wound from the Skitter's claw ripping through my leg was still painful but Lourdes managed to stop the bleeding and patch me up pretty good. She said that it was a nasty wound but she had confidence that I'd be able to walk without help in a week; two at the most.

"Okay." The Captain nodded at me warily and then got on with business. He held up a finger to Scott. "There is no 'giving it a shot'," He warned. "If we go through with this then we're betting everything on this camp. Now exactly how sure are you that this camp still exists?"

Uncle Scott stared back with a resolve not seen since Leonidas at Thermopylae. "One hundred percent, sir."

Weaver dropped his hand. "Then it's settled." He slammed a fist on the table when he saw Danner about to speak out again. "You're all dismissed. Spread the word and get everyone prepared. We move out in five."


	6. Laugh At My Insanity

**Author's Note - Took me a while because of school stuff but I finally got this chapter up, hopefully I'll be able to do 2 a week from now on but if not I'll always have at least 1 done.**

**To my reviewers and readers again, thanks for continuing to follow my story it means a lot to me. Greg, they always help, especially considering that the last one was my only, but with everything you said it counted for multiple. Then I hope this satisfied you because there will be a few Ben-less chapters coming up, but the majority will have him and more and more as the story progresses. Thanks though, I figured that they'd need a rival during their time at the camp so I'm having Danner fill that role. Yeah, I hate when they just drop characters with no explanation no matter how minor they are, let me know if you find out he died. Wow, thats really cool that you talk to them. My favorites are clearly Drew Roy and Connor Jessup but yeah I'd avoid letting them in on that fact. Probably wouldn't go over well, lol.**

**Anyway go read. If anyone has any advice on this chapter, I'm looking to rewrite it and post a better version up. It was one of my favorites but I don't think I did it justice. I'd really appreciate it if someone gave me a few tips on what to do with it and it might just motivate me to update this one and post two more by the end of the week :). R&R!**

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6. Laugh At My Insanity

"Christ, Hal shut up already!" Ben snapped from across the table.

I glanced up at my brother who sat across the cafeteria table from me; with what I'm sure was a very shocked expression.

I'd been talking to some girl; Abby, she said her name was. She came up and asked to sit with me and my brothers. At first she asked general questions and all three of us replied with the customary answers, before asking her identical questions. But as the conversation became more relaxed and friendly, it was mostly just her and me. I'd noticed the way she batted her long lashes at me and leaned closer when she gave me a compliment and I responded in the way I always had. I even went so far as to put my hand on her thigh at one point but only for a second, almost absentmindedly.

I forgot what I was saying before Ben interrupted me with his outburst but I figured it was one of those cocky things that girls seemed to like.

Silence fell over us and the groups around us.

I stared at Ben, slack jawed and wondering what had caused him to yell like that.

I felt a soft hand on my forearm and looked over to see Abby getting up, brushing her dark hair over her shoulder and giving me a half smile, "I'm gonna go." She said, "I'll see you around."

I watched her walk away before turning back to Ben.

People around us had begun to speak again and the feeling of shock from a few seconds ago faded away completely.

"What the hell was that about?" I demanded.

Ben dropped his eyes to his lap and shrugged his shoulders; looking like a child who'd done something wrong and gotten caught, "Sorry." He mumbled.

I looked at him for a minute, outlining his soft features with my eyes before shaking my head and rubbing at the bridge of my nose.

"We need to get going anyway." I said shortly and stood, picking up my tray.

We'd arrived at the summer camp Uncle Scott had told us about a few weeks ago. At first we thought it was too run down to be a viable option for an extended stay but once we dusted off the cobwebs and got things into order, we realized what an amazing stroke of luck it was.

Our good fortune only increased when we found the food stores still stocked full of nonperishables.

The camp was far from any remnants of civilization and protected by the rolling hills and forests of the Berkshires. It was situated on a crystal clear lake and the layout was fairly simple.

In the center of the camp was a large flag pole with an American flag hoisted up high. Not far from the flag pole sat the dining hall and opposite of that was the camp office that Weaver was using as a command center. The cabins were scattered around but most remained somewhat near the center of camp.

Most families were sharing cabins so that everybody fit, but not us; we were the Masons.

Weaver picked out a cabin about a stone's throw away from his office for us.

I spent most of my days either on patrol, sentry duty, hunting in the forest, or giving Ben pointers at firing practice. It was a routine experience but after so much uncertainty and instability a little bit of tediousness was just fine with me.

With my time occupied by these tasks I never had the opportunity to ask the Captain about the details of how the aliens had launched such a coordinated attack on our watch posts and base camp. I was probably just being paranoid but for some reason I felt like he had given me a full schedule as to avoid my questions and keep me out of the loop. Even more worrying was how close Lt. Danner stuck to his backside these days.

There were still a few hours until nightfall but me and Ben had to get to bed soon. Weaver had both of us on sentry duty at 0300.

"C'mon Matt." I tapped my youngest brother on the shoulder and nodded for him to follow me to drop our trays off with the dishwashers.

"Hal can't I stay up for just a few more hours?" He whined, looking at me with his expressive brown eyes.

"No." I said firmly, "Me and Ben are both going to bed and I'm not gonna let you walk around without someone to watch you."

"Hal!" Matt whined but Ben silenced him with a soft kick to his butt.

"Stop whining. You sound like a little girl." Ben muttered in annoyance.

"Don't hit me butt face!" Matt cried and shoved at Ben.

Ben swatted him away like a fly and the three of us made our way over to hand over our trays.

Once we had cleaned up we went outside and were met by the coldest chill the winter had yet to throw at us.

As we walked to our cabin our breath rose above us in thick clouds and I wasn't surprised when I saw glistening crystals falling in the soft sunlight. The small flakes tingled against my cheeks and made my face feel hot.

"Awww Hal!" Matt started his complaining again, "Can't I just stay out and play for a little while?"

"I said no." I answered and grabbed his arm, pulling him along.

"What's the matter?" I turned and saw Lourdes making her way to us with her jacket-clad arms wrapped around her body as she shivered.

She even had on a pair of fluffy earmuffs and it made my lack of preparation for the winter feel more obvious. The only extra protection I had on was my camo jacket and that sure as hell wasn't doing much for me. But it was better than Ben who wasn't even wearing a coat.

"Lourdes, Hal won't let me stay up and play!" Matt hollered like I was going to be punished by the medical assistant.

Lourdes smiled at Matt and then tilted her head to the side a bit as she looked at me, "Why do you always have to be a big bully?"

I scoffed and put a hand to my chest, "I'm just doing my job. He can't stay out here by himself."

She shrugged slightly, "Well I could watch him for you if you want. So he can play for a little while and I'll bring him by your cabin at lights out."

Not even waiting for my answer Matt gave out a cheer and ran off in the other direction to a group of other kids who were already gathering and planning a snowball fight in the two centimeters of snow on the ground.

I sighed and shook my head at Lourdes, rubbing my forehead, "He's gonna catch a cold." I mumbled.

"He's a kid." She smiled, "Let him catch whatever he wants. Don't worry," She walked past me, "I'm a doctor remember."

"Med school grad." I muttered.

"I'm sorry what was that?" I heard her fake offense.

"Nothing. Just commenting on how nice the weather's been lately." I smirked and patted Ben on the shoulder as we continued on to the cabin. He didn't return my smile.

I entered first and shook off the layer of snowflakes that had come to rest on the shoulders of my jacket and my head.

I heard Ben shutting the door behind us and I said, "Don't lock it."

He didn't reply as he walked over to his bed and kicked off his sneakers.

I dropped my coat to the floor and sat on my bed – across the room from Ben's so that I could untie my boots.

Being inside didn't do much to shield us from the cold. But it was better than sleeping under a bridge somewhere.

I shivered as I dropped one boot to the floor with a heavy thud and then followed it with the other. I pulled off my socks and tucked them inside one of my boots.

I was unbuttoning my pants at the same time that Ben was climbing into his bed.

It never made much sense to me how he could sleep in jeans but it was nothing new. During the winter time it was rare for him to not sleep fully clothed. Our mom used to yell at him for sleeping in jeans because it stretched them out, but that wasn't really a big worry around here these days.

My pants fell to the floor and I lifted up the heavy wool blanket before sliding into my warm blanket and rubbing my hands up and down my arms. This weather was going to be the death of me.

The sound of my teeth chattering was pretty loud in the darkening cabin and I knew it was getting on Ben's nerves but there wasn't much I could do about it.

Looking across the cabin I could make out his form in the dim light. His back was turned to me and he had his pillow pulled over his head tightly.

I let out a loud shiver and nestled in deeper to the creaking mattress beneath me. By normal standards the beds probably weren't all that comfortable but I'd learned to sleep almost anywhere without a problem. Cots, the floor, outside. None of those were problems and a real bed was more than I'd thought to ask for in months.

My feet were freezing and I began to regret taking off my socks. It made sense to get up and put them back on but I was already in bed and somewhat comfortable so the thought of getting up and putting my socks back on was like asking me to climb a mountain with frostbitten hands and a club foot. It wasn't gonna happen.

Instead I buried my feet into the thick wool above me and tried to keep myself warm. I had no idea how the hell Matt could stand to be running around outside in the cold but then again I tried not to understand that kid.

"Stop shivering." The muffled sound of Ben's voice came from underneath his pillow.

"I can't." I shivered almost on cue. "It's freezing."

A moment later his balled up blanket landed on top of me. I rolled onto my side and looked over at him, still curled onto his side but this time with no blanket covering his body.

I sat completely upright and picked up the blanket he'd thrown me, "You'll freeze tonight."

He turned his head a bit, "I'm fine."

"You're a freak but you're not immune to the cold dumbass." I threw it back over to him.

He finally sat up too and turned to face me. "We need to sleep." He said, "I'm not gonna sit here and listen to you shiver all night."

I was at a loss for words but I knew I wasn't going to let him get frostbite or anything just because I was freezing my ass off.

"See?" He reasoned, "You've got nothing." Tossing the blanket back to me, he said, "Now go to sleep."

Without hesitation I threw it back, "Don't tell me what to do loser."

Ben shot me a glare and set his jaw. "I'm not playing this game with you."

I smirked. "Good, you won't win anyway."

"Can you just take the blanket and go to sleep?" He pleaded as he tossed it to me again, sounding extremely fatigued.

I don't know what it was but the argument with Ben had given me a surge of energy and now I heaved myself onto my feet and walked over to his bed.

He fell back on an elbow and held a hand up to keep me at bay. The same way he used to before the invasion.

I simply knocked his hand out of the way, grabbed onto him by the hip and shoulder and spun him so that he was laying the right way and then tucked the blanket around him. I knew that he'd gotten a lot stronger since we removed his harness and that if he had actually struggle then it wouldn't have been as easy as when he was a kid.

The moment I turned back around and started to make my way back to my bed I heard him shoot up and felt his arms encircle my neck.

He hurled us backwards and we went crashing down onto his bed. It was the same kind of stupid move he always pulled when we used to wrestle. Now he was stuck underneath me and I could easily use my weight to keep him pinned.

The momentum of my back crushing his chest knocked the wind out of Ben and I heard him coughing. I took advantage of his momentary debilitation and flipped over, grabbing his wrists and trapping them over his head. I straddled his belly with my knees and looked down at his red face with a wide grin.

"Some things never change huh?" I laughed.

Ben shot upwards and knocked me to the side. His knees were jammed up against my stomach in a split second and I felt him reaching for my wrists, trying to imitate the way I'd always pinned him.

But I wasn't going to let him get that far. I think it genuinely surprised him when I rushed forward and hooked my arms underneath his knees, taking him with me across the room until we fell over onto my bed.

I don't know what I found funny but I released him and rolled onto my back laughing.

He sat up and shot me a cautious look. "What's wrong with you?"

I reached up and clasped his arm. "I dunno." I said dumbly, feeling lightheaded and happy. At the moment I felt like the invasion had never happened and we were back home; it was something I hadn't felt in a long time and that I usually tried to avoid. It was dangerous to get caught up in the past these days, but for once I let myself relax and not worry about the aliens swooping down on us at any moment.

Ben seemed to know that something was up and he got to his feet.

His hands were on me a second later and somehow I ended up underneath the blankets.

I was still freezing but now there was a warmth in my stomach that reminded me of the few times that I'd drunken alcohol. That was the feeling I had now, a sort of uninhibitedness that was foreign to me.

Ben was turning away now but I absentmindedly reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"Stay here." I mumbled.

I knew he shot me an incredulous look but my eyes were shut and I didn't care to look up at him.

"It's cold." I said, "You're warm." It made sense if you thought about it. But I wasn't thinking and later on I would think back on this moment with a suspicion that something in me had snapped and I was beginning my descent into insanity.

"Hal I'm not five." He protested – reminding me of when he used to climb into my bed late at night –, but I knew that he was just keeping up appearances.

If I had been in my right mind then he would've denied immediately – not that the question would've been asked anyway – but I wasn't and he knew that.

I shivered just to make my point and he gave in.

He didn't say anything but the covers were pulled back and I felt rough denim against my legs a second later as the bed sank in with his added weight.

Neither of us moved for a few minutes; both of us simply laying in the dark and listening to the sound of each other breathing.

It was awkward at first but I wasn't in the mindset to be put off by weirdness. In my mind he was a little kid again and he was scared of monsters or thunder or . . . well aliens. But in reality I was out of my mind and freezing my ass off and Ben was like a goddamn space heater.

His skin was warm to the touch and I found myself shifting closer to him to keep warm.

Drowsiness came over me like a wave and I felt like I was being pulled downwards into a deep, dark, warm cocoon.

My head bobbed forward and came to rest on the soft fabric of Ben's t-shirt and my legs tangled with his as my body instinctively tried to stay warm.

He tensed for a moment but eventually relaxed and leaned into me.

It was definitely weird and if I'd been thinking it never would've happened but for the moment I was happy and warm.

Barely conscious I could feel his chest rising and falling with each breath and him shift his body so that he was more comfortable.

An arm was thrown around me and I burrowed into the warmth between his arm and side.

It wasn't long after that everything faded from my mind and I drifted off. It was the deepest sleep I'd had since the invasion and the only time I'd ever truly been stress-free. That only made waking up for our watch that much harder.

Especially with the brisk way he woke me up and shoved my clothes at me, trying to hurry me out of bed. Matt was curled up at my feet and it took a lot of maneuvering to get out of bed without waking him up.

The two of us left the warmth of our cabin within the minute and never spoke of that night again.


	7. Not a house, a Home

**Author's Note - Sorry for taking so long on the update and the short chapter. But to make up for it I'll have another one up monday night.**

**Once again, thank you to all my readers and reviewers. JDMlvr1, wouldnt all of us lol ;) and thanks. Greg, if your still up for it I'll probably ask you to start beta-ing within the next few chapters. I just like to post them right away cause im impatient lol, but once i get to updating on a schedule then ill send them to you to beta first. Sorry for taking so long and I hope this satisfies you, I know Ben's barely in it but i added the last part with him there just for you. originally he didnt even make an appearance at all. But if it makes up for it the next chapter is very Ben-heavy. LoneWolfie, thanks alot for the compliments, your ramblings were greatly appreciated :).**

**So yes, this is short, barely any Ben, a little nice moment at the end, and alot of Ben in the next chapter. Sorry for ruining the chapter for you lol. R&R!**

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7. Not a house, a Home

A few days had passed at camp and everyone had fallen into a routine.

I was mostly occupied by constant tasks assigned by the Captain but I kept up on my friends' daily lives as best as I could.

I was in the most contact with Lourdes because she had become Matt's caretaker whenever me and Ben were away. I trusted her completely with Matt and knew that she would keep him safe. She was pretty busy with helping out in the camp's medical center but she hadn't dropped the ball yet and seemed to be capable of balancing all of her responsibilities. Plus she had Anne to help her.

Anne was probably the busiest person at camp these days. With the chill sweeping over us she'd been dealing with colds and the flu all week. These days even a sneeze was cause enough for parents to take their kids to the doctor.

I hadn't seen much of Maggie but I knew that she was just as busy as me. She spent her free time helping her friend Sarah take care of baby Charlotte; the youngest in our ranks. If she wasn't helping out with the baby then she was probably giving Jimmy pointers at the firing range.

As for Jimmy the Captain mostly kept his missions limited to odd jobs around camp or one of the closer watches. I think it's because he still had a soft spot for the kid. I couldn't blame him; Jimmy just sort of had that effect on you. Even Ben had seemed to take a liking to him and if I couldn't find my brother it was usually because he and Jimmy had gone off to take a walk in the forest.

I hadn't seen Dai around much but whenever there was any sort of tension in camp he was sure to be there standing at my side. His loyalty was something I could always count on.

The same wasn't true for Anthony anymore. I think the attack on the mall really rattled him because he had been spending more and more time around Pope. He said he was just keeping an eye on the convict but I had my own suspicions.

Rick had almost completely fallen off my radar but I saw him passing by occasionally in camp. The kid didn't talk much.

Uncle Scott had taken ill a day or two ago and was bed ridden in the infirmary with Dr. Glass watching over him 24/7. In the meantime an ivy-leaguer named Jamil Dexter had taken over as our Engineer and technology expert.

And the Captain himself was hardly ever seen outside of his command center. When he was he was always accompanied by the forever-feuding Danner and Ryerson.

I'd been given another watch tonight; this time at a separate post from Ben. I wasn't certain but I suspected that Lt. Danner had something to do with us being split up.

It wasn't a big deal but I didn't like feeling powerless against someone who clearly had it out for me and my family. At least we had allies on our side as well. What with Ryerson repeatedly petitioning for Danner's expulsion and Lourdes pouring a little extra alcohol on his cuts and scrapes, I think our message got across.

I was heading for my new post now and listened to the sounds of the forest around me as my boots crunched the frozen pine needles under my feet. The trail I was walking was pretty well kept considering the months of abandon, but that was mostly due to the cold that had killed off most vegetation already.

My post was about a half-klick away from camp situated in a little clearing where old vehicles had been dumped. I knew the spot already and in my mind I kept formulating new defense strategies for it. It would be pretty easy to hold off a small Skitter patrol because of the maze of cars and trucks. And the bus at the far end could be used as a barricade against Mech fire if needed.

As I reached the spot I was surprised to see who my new partner was.

The man was seated on an old log with his back to me but I knew him immediately.

He'd started a fire already to ward off the cold and I could see him taking deep sips from an old flask.

I walked up to him and patted his shoulder before taking a seat next to him. "Long time no see." I sighed, setting my rifle down against the side of the log.

Tector turned to me with a friendly smile when he heard my voice. "Hey, kid, how you doin'?" His southern drawl rolled off his tongue like thick honey.

I shrugged and pressed my lips together. "Alright. You?"

He let out a little laugh and shook his head as he looked at the dirt beneath his boots. "As good as any other around here . . ." His breath drifted up in frozen clouds.

I nodded in agreement. "It's not easy."

I was met by his honest blue eyes and open smile. "Amen. Nothing has been in awhile."

I got a feeling that his definition of awhile was a lot longer ago than just since the invasion.

"Then again," He sighed, "Maybe we shouldn't be complaining. We are still here after all." His arm fell over my shoulders and the scent of wet dog washed over me, "You've still got your brothers."

I thought about this for a minute and decided that he was right. Ben and Matt were alive and more-or-less happy; there wasn't much more that I could hope for in this world. Sure everything was gone. The world, I mean, but my brothers were still by my side and that made it bearable.

Silence fell over us like a comfortable blanket of mutual resignation and understanding. We were soldiers. Thrown together by a shit storm of bad luck but both of us knowing that we needed to stand up and take the brunt of the pain and suffering to protect what little left we could hold dear.

Soon the sky was black and the air took on that extra sharp iciness that only a New Englander could stand. The briskness of it came quickly and it made my lungs hurt in a way that I'd grown to love.

"New England huh?" Tector said, rubbing his hands together over the fire and trying to force the chill from his fingers.

I smiled and looked at my own hands. Southerners probably didn't experience the winter like we did and I couldn't blame him for being uncomfortable; especially if this was his first go at surviving a northern winter.

"It's got its bad days." I agreed.

"Freezing." He barked and took another swig of his flask.

I observed the container out of the corner of my eye.

I guess he knew I was watching him because he shoved it towards me without looking.

And I dropped the ball like a little girl.

I sat staring at it for a little too long and he turned his head too look at me. "I won't tell the Captain." He laughed and shook it a bit.

Quickly trying to hold onto whatever little respect I'd gained from him I grabbed the flask and brought it to my lips. I took a quick sniff and knew that it was straight vodka. Great. I tipped it back and let the warm liquid slide down my throat, leaving a trail of fuzzy warmth behind. And the taste of toilet cleaner.

I did my best not to cough and handed it back with a quick clearing of my throat.

"Strong huh?" He laughed.

There was no use in trying to pretend like it wasn't one of the worst things I'd ever drank in my life anymore, so I let out a cough and nodded. "Yup." I said hoarsely.

"No worries bud." He patted my back, "You'll get used to it."

We sat for a few hours, watching the unmoving forest and waiting for hundreds of Skitters to come rushing towards us like a colony of really pissed off ants. The fire kept us from freezing to death in the harsh night and the stars above shined brighter than ever without the lights of the city interfering.

"How's your brother, Ben, doing?" He asked sometime during the night.

I thought on the question for a bit. There was no rush in conversations during watches when you had long hours ahead of nothing but talking.

"I think he's good." I said unsurely, "I mean he's still got the spikes and everything if that's what you're asking . . . but he's . . . growing up I guess."

Tector nodded slowly and said, "He's a good kid."

"I know." I sighed. "He's just . . . I never know where he's at, you know? I used to know him so well, but now it's just different."

He didn't answer but I could feel his pity like an unwanted pat on the shoulder.

After a while the two of us put out the fire and checked the perimeter one last time before heading back to camp.

When it was time for us to part ways and head back to our respective cabins, I felt a rough hand on my shoulder and looked over at him.

"Listen kid," He began slowly, "I won't tell you that everything's gonna be all right, okay? Hell, it probably won't and we'll all be dead by Christmas, but I either way I got your back."

I saw the straightforwardness in his eyes and knew that he was completely serious.

He held my eyes for a few long seconds until I patted his arm and pulled away, saying, "Same here."

I could feel him watching me as I headed back to my cabin and knew that no matter what happened Tector was going to be someone I could call on.

Matt was already snoring loudly under the covers when I got back. I crossed the room over to the bed that he and I shared and pulled the covers back just enough for me to slide in.

Kicking off my boots and quickly discarding all of my extra equipment – including my jacket and rifle – I glanced over my shoulder and saw Ben sleeping in his bed.

He had kicked off the covers like he did when he was little. His shirt was lying on the ground and he was lying on his back, with one hand thrown over his head and the other splayed out on his stomach.

I walked over to his bedside and pulled the blankets back over him. I knew that he wouldn't get cold but it felt like something normal.

Just then the hand over his head moved down and gently wrapped around my wrist.

His skin was hot and it made me want to curl into his warmth again, but I had my pride and I wasn't going to start cuddling up to my little brother every day. I softly pulled his hand off and dropped it onto his chest, before pushing his bangs off his forehead. He needed a haircut soon.

I smiled at his sleeping face before turning away and going back over to my bed. I climbed in next to Matt and put my arm around him. He immediately burrowed backwards into me and I held him close.

I fell asleep then in this safe place that was ours. This place that smelt like us, that was messy like us, and where the three of us could forget about putting on a public face and just be brothers.

Without dad this was all we had anymore. A small cabin in the woods were we were a family again.


	8. The Pope Show

**Author's Note - It's a little short but thats only because I was working with a deadline. The next chap might be a little short as well, but I promise some bigger and better ones are coming soon.**

**Thank you to all my fans and reviewers etc. Greg, yeah get ready for a whole lot of that. I'm bringing in pretty much every character from the series at some point and for some reason. You guys can probably already guess from the last chapter that Tector's going to be a sort of mentor/older brother for Hal. I'm glad you liked your Ben moment, in these next four chapters you'll get plenty more of that. (although im not sure how much you'll like this one). Cookie97, I'm glad to see i've found a new reviewer (not that i usually keep you guys for more than a chapter or two anyway), but still appreciate the time it took you to drop the review. it really does mean a lot to me. The story will eventually be slash but I'm taking my time to build up to it. Theres gonna be alot of teenage angst, sexual tension, sadness and tears, anger and fights, and of course alcohol, before we get to the slash lol. But it is getting a lot closer and coming faster than I'd originally expected/planned. What can i say? the story has a life of its own.**

**Anyway, thanks to everyone who reads. Please continue to do so :) R&R!**

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8. The Pope Show

The next day I was on my way to catch up with Lourdes at the med center when I saw the new engineer, Jamil Dexter, exiting the building and checking over his shoulder as he slunk away with a secretive smile on his face.

I narrowed my eyes as he passed me but he didn't even seem to notice my presence.

Just then a soft sound drifted over me and I wasn't sure if I was hearing right.

It sounded like someone was . . . singing?

I could barely catch snippets of it from my distance.

"_. . . started off the wrong way . . . faith and black coffee . . . I miss ya face baby . . . till we're all alone . . ."_

It was a foreign sound in a place where there was nothing good to sing about. But as I neared the med center I was certain of it. And the light lilt of the voice was unmistakable. That was Lourdes singing.

I stopped just outside the door and listened for a moment.

" _. . . When ya say my name everything comes alive. Take the darkest room and you turn on the lights. When you touch my head you're telling me a secret only we can understand . . ."_

Something clicked together in my head and I pushed open the door with a wide grin.

Lourdes' big brown eyes looked shocked and I was greeted with a pretty amusing sight.

I'd interrupted her in the middle of another verse of _'When you say my name'_ and the surprise caused her voice to rise into a squeak. And not only had she been singing but also dancing and my entrance made her slip and fall flat on her butt.

She was definitely not doing any important doctor stuff today so I didn't need to feel any guilt at the interruption.

Her dark glossy hair was messy and she was dressed in a little pink tank top with silk pajama pants. She looked like she'd spent the night here and knowing what I knew now, she might've.

"So Jamil huh?" I chuckled, shutting the door behind me and crossing the room to sit on the counter.

Lourdes quickly tried to regain her composure. She brushed her hair back, stood up and turned her blushing face away.

I nodded and pressed my lips together, "He seems like a good guy."

"Can I help you with something?" She asked with a smile.

"Nope." I shook my head, "Just stopping by to see how you were doing. Better than I thought apparently."

She shook her head and walked to the other side of the room to fiddle around with some bottles in a cabinet.

"I'll leave you to it then." I got up and made my way to the door.

"Hal." Her voice stopped me and I looked over my shoulder. "Just- don't uh, tell anyone . . . about this." She gestured to herself and I nodded before leaving.

I was happy for her. If she liked Jamil and they had something I didn't want to ruin it. I might miss the attention she used to give me but she was growing up and she definitely wasn't that same little girl who fawned over me when we first met.

Deciding to go get breakfast I turned down the path that lead back to the center of camp. I was almost at the dining hall when I heard, "Razorback!"

I hadn't heard that word in a few weeks. Not since before the attack on Boston. Back when people thought there was a big conspiracy involving the harnessed kids and them still being under alien control.

My head snapped to face the direction that the slur came from and I saw a large group of boys standing in a circle, pushing another boy around and hollering.

"Seriously, fuck off." I heard Ben's voice and saw him over one of the kids' shoulder.

"What's the matter Lizard Boy? Miss your Skitter mommy?" One of the bigger boys shoved Ben hard and he stumbled to the ground.

I started towards them and was ready to break it up and drag Ben out of there when I saw the deadly look in my brother's eyes as he glared up at the boy.

"I said fuck off." He enunciated each word with fatal slowness.

"And I said you wish Half-Breed." The boy spat on Ben.

I wasn't actually sure what happened next but the boy was suddenly launched into a tree and Ben was on his feet, struggling with another.

I rushed to the scene and caught one of their fists as it came flying towards my brother. Twisting the kid's arm up behind his back I threw him to the ground and pulled another boy off Ben.

All of them were getting in on it now and I was knocked to the ground. The air was forced from my lungs and my head felt hot.

One of the older guys had kicked me in the chest and was now moving back to Ben.

I ignored the burning in my chest and rushed him from behind, taking him down and slamming my fist into the side of his face.

Ben was on the ground now and a group of them were kicking him as one kneeled on his chest to keep him down.

I landed one last punch on the guy under me before rushing to Ben's side and shoving the kids away from him.

One tried to choke me but I quickly slammed him into a tree and he slunk away with tears streaming down his face. Many of them were following suit and the group began to thin until it was just us and a few of the older boys.

"Get the fuck out of here." I snarled at them, wiping some blood from my chin.

"Once your Razorback brother leaves camp." The biggest one said, ignoring the blood dripping from his nose.

"Walk away now." I warned.

He chuckled darkly to himself and looked up at me. "Make me." He scoffed.

Without any hesitation I sprung forward and popped him one perfect right hook. He crumpled to the ground instantly and his friends took the opportunity to dissipate.

Ignoring the two or three boys still lying on the ground around us, I turned to Ben.

I ran a hand through his sweaty mop of hair to check for cuts but he pushed me away and shot me a glare.

"I'm making sure you're not bleeding moron." I shot at him, stepping forward and running my hands up and down his sides and over his shoulders. He seemed fine and in one piece but the daggers he was shooting me weren't comforting.

"What?" I demanded when he stepped away again.

"I didn't need your help." He spat.

"Are you kidding me?" I gave him a dumb look, "Ben, there were like fifteen of those kids. They were gonna kill you."

"I could've handled it myself." He folded his arms across his chest and wiped away the blood that began to drip from his nose. He failed miserably and ended up smearing it across his face.

"I don't have time to deal with you right now. Go see Anne and get cleaned up." I waved him off and pinched the bridge of my nose.

He didn't seem to have a snarky response to that and simply walked past me, bumping my shoulder aggressively and stalking off, in the opposite direction of the medical center.

"God damn it." I sighed and pressed a hand to my face. Ben was starting to piss me off.

"Trouble in Camelot?" The last person I wanted to talk to right now said as he walked up behind me.

I turned and shot Pope an irritated glare. "Back off Pope."

He held his hands out as he approached and grinned that shit-eating grin. "Just checking on my favorite Princelings." He insisted, "Y'know, I see myself as a sort of father figure to you boys since dear Papa Mason departed on his voyage to the stars."

I didn't respond; simply warning him to stay clear with my gaze.

"You need to relax, kid." He laughed and kneeled down beside one of the boys on the ground. "You two really did a number on these kids."

"They started it." I growled.

"I didn't say they didn't." He said, standing back up and surveying the damage done to the boys. "I saw that sweet right hook."

I kept my silence.

"Listen, kid, I'm not your enemy." He insisted, "I'm here to help."

"You don't help." I said, "You screw things up and get people killed."

He gave a short laugh that sounded more like a bark. "I only want two things in life kid. Do you know what they are?"

No response.

"Well, I'll tell you." He pretended as if I'd asked him to continue. Holding up one finger he said, "One: to kill Skitters." Another finger came up, "And two: to kill more Skitters."

He paced circles around me, "You see young Mason, I see your talent and your little freak show brother's raw power and I don't see something to be feared. I see an opportunity."

"He's not a freak show." Was my only response.

Pope nodded and conceded to my point. "Alright. But I see what the two of you can do; and together? You kids are unstoppable. I want to utilize your skills and get back at those bastards."

I kept on with my dead stare.

"So?" He prodded, "What do you think? Team up with me and start our own little post-apocalyptic gang of Merry Men? You can be the Little John to my Robin Hood."

I stared at him for a few silent seconds, before turning away, "No thanks." I muttered and began to stalk off after Ben.

"Hold up." He was in front of me in a second. "Listen kid, I'm not playing games. I'm one of the only friendly faces left around here who doesn't hate your brother's guts. That can change in a second."

I ignored his threat and stepped around him.

"Fine!" He hollered after me. "You made an enemy today kid! Don't expect me to pull your ass from the fire when this little piece of candy-coated Zion goes to shit!"

I knew not to take Pope's threats too seriously but for some reason something rung true in his words and a knot formed in my stomach . . . I would need to watch Ben a little bit closer in the coming days. Pope wasn't someone we could just ignore if he got too obsessed with this.

Hopefully he'd just forget this and go back to causing minor trouble around camp. But if not . . . if he really wanted to make me pay for turning his offer down – and by association, Ben – then we were in some deep shit.


	9. What's Hypothermia?

**Author's Note - I like this chapter. I'm not sure how much justice I did it but I like the feeling behind it, if that makes sense lol. The next ones not nearly as good (no Ben, not directly anyway) but that will be followed with two Ben-heavy chaps.**

**Once again I thank all my readers and reviewers and critics and followers etc. You guys (and gals) are great. LoneWolfie, that was totally foreshadowing. I'm glad, I take your run-on sentences as a compliment :). lol I think we're all looking forward to that but don't worry, every chapter I write it gets closer and closer. Divina91, I'm very aware of that sad fact -_- oh well, at least there are some. thankyou for the kind words, i worry about keeping them all in character sometimes. I'm happy to know you like the speed its moving at aswell, I didnt really just wanna jump right into the good stuff :). I hope this chapter doesnt dissapoint. Greg, lol thats a pretty good way to deal with it. I love Lourdes! lmao, i think she gets a bad rap because of the way the show made her so optimistic and religious in the first season, but i love her character this season, especially after Jamil's death. I think theres so much depth to her. Plus shes the hottest girl in the show (no offense to Karen, Maggie, and Anne, your all close seconds.) but yes, Jamil's death was possibly the coolest moment this season. Yeah I know, they never really demonstrate how much power Ben has and then all of a sudden Karen comes and is lifting furniture like a pro and I'm just like O_O, can Ben do that too? I decided that yes, yes he can. I know it was cool but I hated everything about that episode. I REALLY dont like it when Hal and Ben are against each other and that episode made me not like Karen anymore. I know, I know, I'm getting there, keep your pants on lmao. JDMlvr1, thank you, I think we're all looking forward to that. Cookie97, I knooooooow, I love Pope but even when I write him he can get on my nerves. Thanks, that means a lot to me and I'm glad to know you'll be sticking around.**

**^ Whatdya think? longest author's note yet?... im not actually certain... anyway! R&R, your reviews keep me alive etc.**

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9. "What's Hypothermia?"

After leaving Pope and his vague threats behind I headed back to the med center. Lourdes or Anne needed to know about the fight and the kids who got hurt or else I'd probably be in the command center later getting reprimanded by Weaver for something I didn't even start.

When I pushed open the door and entered the infirmary for the second time that day I saw Anne just settling in and getting ready for a long day of sneezing children and complaining parents.

Lourdes had left to get herself ready for the day so it was just me and Anne.

"Hey." She smiled when she saw me, swiveling in her chair. "What's up?"

I shook my head and let out a heavy sigh, "You ready for a mess?"

I saw the panic in her eyes as she noticed the blood on my face and the way my hair was matted with sweat; and I was quick to calm her.

"It's really not a big deal. Me and Ben just got into a little fight." I shrugged and used the sleeve of my jacket to wipe away some of the blood on my cheek. "I think everyone's fine but I just came to let you know."

"Hal." She sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead, "What were you two doing to get into a fight in the first place?"

"A few kids were going after Ben for his . . . spikes."

She nodded like she'd suspected as much. "I knew that was gonna come back eventually. People around here are afraid and with all that's happened to your family you guys are easy scapegoats."

I nodded my head in silence, letting the full weight of how much people feared and hated my family sink in.

Anne saw this and stood up, gesturing to the exam table, "Have a seat. I might as well give you a checkup while you're here."

I looked up at her and laughed a little, but did as she said and took a seat on the table.

She came over a moment later with a few tools and took my blood pressure.

"I'm a little old for this." I smirked as she peeled off the Velcro and put away the blood pressure cuff.

"Everyone's getting sick." She said, putting on the stethoscope, "I'm not taking any chances."

She slid her hand under my shirt and pressed the cold metal up against my chest, "Deep breath." I inhaled and slowly exhaled. Her hand dragged the tool further down, "Again." We repeated this several times until she pulled it off and put the stethoscope away.

Then she lifted my shirt and ran a gloved hand over my abdomen, feeling and tapping for any swelling.

"How's Uncle Scott doing?" I asked as she went through the motions.

"He's in the backroom now." She said, "I need to check on him soon actually, but he's stable for the most part." She brought a wet washcloth to my face and wiped away the blood, sweat, and dirt. "Looks like just a few scrapes." She said in a doctor voice, "How's Ben? Do you know?"

I shrugged, "Just a bloody nose I think. I'll check on him later once he calms down. If there's an issue he'll be here."

Anne nodded and began to put everything away, "You're free to go." She said.

"No skin eating virus?" I joked, getting up and drying my face off with my sleeve.

She smiled slightly and shook her head, "Do me a favor Hal?"

"Yeah, anything." I nodded.

"Make sure you keep a close eye on your brother."

"Always do." I said.

She let out a heavy sigh and I got a feeling of just how stressed she was. "I wish I had time to keep after you boys but everything's so busy around here lately."

I held up a hand, "Don't worry about it. Seriously, I can handle Ben."

"I know." She nodded as I was leaving. "And Hal?"

"Yeah?" I looked over my shoulder.

"Stay out of fights."

I smirked and walked out the door, "No promises." I said into the cold morning.

As I walked back towards the main part of camp I made the decision to see if I could catch a late breakfast.

When I walked into the dining hall I saw a good amount of people still sitting around at the tables and finishing up their breakfasts. I quickly went over to the serving line and got myself a tray, filling it up with scrambled eggs that looked like slop.

I turned around and went to go sit at a corner table when I saw Abby waving me over. I hadn't spoken to her much since that day when Ben had his outburst but whenever I saw her around camp she always smiled and waved. She was sitting at a table with a few other kids and I decided to see what she wanted.

I walked up to the table and returned her smile, "What's up?" I asked, setting my tray down and leaning over her.

Her friends were all watching us as she laid a hand on my arm, "Sit with us?" She asked.

I was about to say yes when I saw Ben over her shoulder; sitting all by himself in the corner of the room.

"Sorry." I gave her a contrite smile, "I need to talk to my brother. I'll see you around though."

She looked disappointed but I needed to deal with Ben.

When I got to the table I plopped my tray down and sat next to him.

He didn't even look up at me or even acknowledge my presence as he continued to chew and swallow his food.

I watched him for a few moments. He'd gone and cleaned the blood from his nose but he still looked like a mess, with sweat and dirt covering him from head to toe.

I sighed and looked down at the slop on my own tray before picking up my fork and slowly beginning to shovel the food into my mouth.

Neither of us spoke as we ate, but there was a sort of tension between us that left me confused. I wasn't really sure where his head was at right now and I wasn't all that excited to find out.

A few minutes later I found out that he'd calmed down, or at least he was ready to talk, when he finished eating but didn't get up to leave.

I finished eating and the two of us stood up at the same time, bringing our empty trays over to the civilians on breakfast duty today. The dining hall was emptying now and only a few tables were still occupied.

We left the dining hall and made for our cabin with full bellies and heavy hearts. I knew fully well that he was expecting a confrontation and was ready to go at it tooth-and-nail with me. But as we neared the cabin I came up with a better idea.

Ben made to turn down the little path that led to our cabin but I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and steered him to keep on walking.

He shot me a quizzical look as we passed the majority of the housing cabins.

"Just wait." I said confidently. I knew that it was either more anger and frustration between the two of us or I could simply ignore the earlier situation and fix us before we were too broken to carry on. I decided on the latter.

"Where're we going?" He asked when we turned onto the trail that left camp.

"Trust me." Was all I said.

I'm not sure if he decided to just go along so he didn't have to argue, if he was beginning to get curious, or if he really did trust me but either way he shut his mouth and kept on walking.

In just a few minutes – and more than a few winding trails – we'd come out of the forest on the far side of the lake. I could see camp across the water but only because of the light and noise. There was no way we could be spotted in our secluded little beach.

"Hal, what're we doing here?" Ben asked, as I stared out across the water.

I turned to him and nodded at his feet, "Take off your shoes."

He shot me another questioning look as I began to unbuckle my belt. By the time I'd dropped it onto a nearby rock he was still just looking at me.

With an annoyed sigh I explained, "It's been more than a month since either of us cleaned up. We're covered in dirt and sweat and Anne would be pissed at me if I let you get some weird infection or rash because you haven't taken a bath in months." I slipped my jacket off and pulled my ratty old thermal over my head.

The bite of the winter air was something I'd grown used to but it didn't stop the goosebumps that spread out across my tanned skin.

Ben was still just standing there, staring at me.

"What?" I asked, reaching down for my zipper.

He didn't seem to have a response but then he said, "Hal, it's winter, you're gonna freeze your ass off and catch hypothermia."

"What's hypothermia?" I shot back.

For once in my life I'd stumped my genius of a younger brother.

" . . . Something to do with the cold." He waved me off, "That's not the point. You're gonna get sick."

"Correction." I said, making my way over to him, "We're gonna get sick."

I pushed his jacket off even as he struggled against me and quickly ridded him of his shirt.

"Hal!" He fought me the entire way, shoving at my chest and trying to knock me away. But my grip on his smooth skin was tighter than he'd anticipated and I never let him get a good hold on me. "Stop, seriously!"

I released him abruptly and stepped back. He looked at me, surprised that I'd listened.

"Stop playing games." I said, "We seriously do need to wash up. Now let's go." I clapped my hands, "Hurry up."

I turned my back to him, knowing that if he wasn't arguing to my face then he'd just give up and follow my orders.

I sat down on the rock that I'd piled our clothes onto and pulled off my boots and socks, before sliding off my pants and draping them across the stone.

I didn't look back at Ben but I heard him undressing and mumbling about how annoying I was. It brought a smile to my face as I buried my toes in the cold sand, trying to pretend we were at the beach on a normal summer day. Sighing, I supposed this was the closest we'd ever get to that again. That is of course, unless the Captain decided to head down to Panama City for Spring Break. Somehow that seemed doubtful.

Turning around to face Ben in my navy blue boxers, I saw him stepping out of his jeans and adding them to the pile.

He wrapped his arms across his bare chest and shivered. "Hal it's fucking freezing, can we please just go back?"

I smirked and shook my head, "Bullshit. You don't feel cold." I called him out on the excuse and walked across the cold sand to him, clasping his shoulder. "Let's go."

The two of us made our way over to the water's edge and I felt the icy water wash over my feet.

We waded into the lake and I began shivering uncontrollably, shifting closer to Ben a bit – who was still radiating heat like he was a fucking microwave. My hip pressed up against his but he didn't say anything. Somehow this seemed like a better idea in my head.

The water was almost to my waist when I couldn't move any further. I pulled away from Ben a bit and began to scrub myself clean, scooping some water in my hand and rubbing the dirt away from my face and chest.

Ben began to do the same; although his movements were a lot smoother and quicker than mine. The perks of being a human furnace.

I moved deeper into the water until it was up to my belly button and began to pour water over my head, running my fingers through the thickness of it and trying to scrub out all the dirt.

I was definitely ready to get out of here. I quickly washed underneath my arms and between my legs before turning back to Ben.

Just as I was turning I heard a huge splash and felt a wave of ice cold water smash into my face.

Ben popped up from underneath the dark water and shook out his blonde hair.

I couldn't help but smile at the sight. He might've been being a little girl about it at first but the grin on his face told me that he was having fun. I probably would be too if I couldn't feel cold.

I shook my head at him as he splashed around and scrubbed his skin clean.

He floated a few feet on his back, with his arms folded behind his head and I decided that if I didn't shake him out of it now he'd get too comfortable and we'd be here all day.

I moved towards him quietly and quickly jumped on top of him, pushing him under the water and doing my best to hold him under. My hands found his shoulder and belly and I pushed down but I couldn't hold him under longer than a few seconds.

He shot up – flinging freezing water in all directions and giving me a death glare. "What the hell Hal?!"

My body shook with laughter and I held my hands up; both in a gesture of surrender and to keep him at bay. "I'm sorry." I choked out between fits of laughter, "I couldn't help myself."

He pushed against me for a second but then shook his head and swam away, leaving me to finish washing up.

I was trying to reach my back when I was slammed down into the icy depths. Ben was on my back, wrapping his arms around my chest and holding us both under. I should've known the bastard wasn't going to let that one go.

Quickly flipping us over I let him drag us down until his back settled against the bottom of the lake, before shaking him off and using his stomach as a springboard to launch myself back up.

Ben didn't come up at first and I knew he was trying to make me go back under for him. Instead I waited him out and sure enough he popped back up, gasping for air. It didn't take him long to get back on the ball though and within the second he was already making another rush at me.

This time he caught me and got me in a pretty good hold but I was bigger than him and I used that. The two of us struggled against each other in the shallow water, our slippery skin sliding against one another. It was a weird feeling, wrestling with him in the cold water. We were surrounded by water that was just above freezing temperature but he was still hot to the touch.

Throwing his arm over my shoulder, I managed to lift him into the air and collapse both of us over into the water again. Before he could react I had him in a headlock and pulled him back above the chilly waters.

Despite being at my mercy I could feel him shaking with laughter as his fingers tried to pry my arm away. I'd learned a thing or two from when we used to wrestle and I knew how to keep a good grip and lock my elbows so that his attempts became useless.

We struggled with each other for several more minutes; with Ben breaking free and lunging at me, me reversing it and pinning him again, him wriggling out of it and so on.

The two of us were completely clean and free of dirt, blood, and sweat now but we'd forgotten the reason we came. Instead we were having fun and forgetting about our obligations and responsibilities. For these few minutes, we were kids again.

Ben was trying to twist my arms behind my back when all of a sudden I sneezed.

All at once it seemed that everything came to a stop. Ben was no longer holding my arms in a death grip and I wasn't trying to push him off. Everything was just still.

Then the world picked up again when Ben uttered one word. "Shit."

Both of us scrambled out of the lake as fast as we possibly could, grabbing our clothes and sprinting towards camp.

I really should've started thinking my plans out some more. Of course I'd catch a cold if I went swimming in frozen water but that didn't even cross my mind at the time. Now I couldn't believe how stupid I was.

Ben was right by my side the whole time back as our feet pounded through the forest and carried us back to camp.

We didn't stop when we got to camp and I wasn't really all that sure where we were going, but then I felt Ben's hand on my shoulder and he directed us back to our cabin.

People stared at us as we passed but I took no notice of this. Catching a cold in the alien occupied post-apocalyptic world was a little bit more serious than getting weird stares from people; even though I'm sure that our wet boxers clung to each of us in more revealing ways than we'd probably like.

When we got to the cabin Ben disappeared for a moment and returned with a towel. Without saying a word to me he went to work at drying off my shivering body.

After I was dry I took the towel and wrapped it around my waist, then stepped out of my boxers and kicked them across the room, where they landed with a wet squelching sound.

Within the minute I was lying in bed, buried under a huge pile of warm blankets with Ben standing at my bedside.

"You're gonna die of hypothermia." He said with a big smile before walking away.


	10. Tightening the Belt

**Author's Note – So I decided fuck it, I'm adding Ben into this chapter anyway. It's a short moment but I felt like he needed to be there. Plus, I'd miss him too much if he weren't :).**

**Same thing as always, readers and reviewers are greatly appreciated. Greg, I'm the same way and im writing them lol. I know its not then but I always get tempted :). I noticed -_- I was pissed when Hal and Maggie got together. I liked it when they were just flirting and shit but then the writers had to screw it all up and make the two characters co dependant on eachother. LoneWolfie, thanks I figured theyd need a little distraction from you know the alien apocolypse and all that. Well I hope it continues to make you smile cause it gets brought up in this chap aswell. JDMlvr1, lol i think everyone enjoyed that little scene. Cookie97, thats exactly what it was. The story isnt all about Ben being different but I do use alot of that to build on their relationship and how they need to face the dark twisted truth of whats going on instead of just pretending that lifes still okay...and that was my dark moment for the day lmao! Divina97, it made me happy too :D, if anyone wants me to spoil the surprise i can let you know when youll see the first 'Hal/Ben more than just brothers' moment. if you all want it then ill put it in a AN but if not ill pm those who do.**

**So as always, please read and review. I thought I was gonna hate this chapter and it was gonna be really short but it just sortve grew and I really like it for some reason...R&R!**

**(Special thanks to Greg for beta-ing.)**

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10. Tightening the Belt

A day had passed since mine and Ben's little detour to the lake and I was sick. Nothing severe and I was pretty sure I'd live, just a stuffy nose and a killer headache.

It was probably the worst time to get sick though, with winter beginning to get into full swing. At least we all had warm beds and food in our bellies – for the moment anyway.

But being sick was no excuse to skip out on assignments as far as Captain Weaver was concerned, so I had sentry duty tonight at 2130 hours. I was still a little bit confused when the higher-ups called out in military time but Ben was usually there to translate for me.

"9:30 pm, at the old tree house." He'd informed me after orders were given out.

I spent the whole day up until then in my bed, trying to get as much sleep as I could. Unfortunately that wasn't much. Around nine o'clock Lourdes came walking into the cabin with Matt behind her.

"Wake up sleepy head." She cooed in a mocking way, taking a seat on Ben's bed and crossing her legs.

I mumbled something in response and I'm almost certain it wasn't polite.

"Anne sent me to make sure you were still breathing." She walked over to me and laid a soft hand on my forehead. "Get up, you big baby, you're healthier than ninety percent of the people at camp."

I reached out a hand, which she grasped and helped me to my feet.

"Hey buddy." I held out my arms as Matt walked towards me and pulled him into a quick hug. "How was your day?"

He shrugged. "Alright."

I knew that he never really had fun anymore and just idly went about his days. I couldn't do much about that though, with my scant free time and current condition, but I made a mental note to hang out with him one day. For now Lourdes looking after him every day would have to do.

"Hal you gotta get u-" Ben's words cut off when he saw that Lourdes and Matt had already woken me up.

"I'm aware." I said flatly, watching as he entered the room and shut the door behind him.

Lourdes smiled at Ben and greeted him, to which he responded with the same.

"Alright, thanks for watching Matt again." I said to Lourdes, knowing that she needed to leave so I could get ready. "Ben's got him tonight."

She nodded and smiled, "Bye Matt, see you tomorrow."

He waved at her, "Bye Lourdes." He said softly.

As Lourdes left she called, "Bye guys" over her shoulder.

"Bye." I answered and went to work at gathering my clothes for sentry duty.

Ben shut the door behind Lourdes and then sat on his bed and watched me scavenge the room for my cargo pants, boots, and thermal.

I sat on the edge of mine and Matt's bed and pulled off my t-shirt.

Both of my brothers' eyes were on me the whole time as I stood up in just my boxers and stepped into my pants.

I was buckling my belt when I noticed that neither of them was talking, just looking at me.

"Problem?" I asked, eyeing the two of them.

Ben shook his head and met Matt's eyes. "Nope, just bored."

I sighed with a smile and scratched the back of my head, "Get used to it."

"What time will you be back?" Ben asked.

"3:00 am." I answered, sliding on my thermal.

Ben nodded, "I've got a scout with Jimmy tomorrow afternoon."

I gave him a slight smile, "Weaver's finally letting Jimmy get past the campgrounds?"

"We're just making a sweep of the area. Making sure there's no Skitters hiding around here." He hesitated, "We should be back by the morning."

That gave me pause and I knew he knew it would. I furrowed my brow at him. "Weaver's letting you two go out for almost a full day?" I said skeptically.

"Uh, yeah," Ben nodded, "He said he'd probably attach another squad to us though."

I didn't really have time right now to question that too much. I was surprised that the Captain had given such a lengthy mission to our two youngest fighters but we were running low on able bodied men and maybe he was finally giving them more responsibility. I didn't like that Ben was going to be gone for that long though and knew I'd need to brief him on all the safety precautions I usually took when on a scout.

"Alright," I sighed, "Wake me up before you leave though."

"Yup." He stood and brought me my jacket, as I was tying on my boots.

"Thanks." I took it and put it on. "Okay, I'll see you guys later." I patted Ben's shoulder and pulled Matt into a quick hug, planting a kiss on top of his head before making my way to the door and grabbing my rifle and gloves on the way.

"Bye Hal." Matt called after me.

I left the cabin and made my way across camp in the freezing darkness, heading for the old tree house at one of the far ends of the camp grounds.

I saw the light from the fire a minute before I came upon the sentry post and saw my partner for the night sitting on a log by a camp fire underneath the tree house.

Her back was to me but I could tell that she was young and pretty. Her long black hair was blowing slightly in the chilly breeze and she had her hands outstretched to the fire.

I was only a few feet behind when I stepped on a twig and snapped it, alerting her to my presence in a frightening way.

She fell off the log as she turned to face me with a horrified look in her green eyes. If she were a trained soldier I would've been full of bullet holes but luckily for me she was new to this and hadn't even reached for her weapon.

But I recognized her and felt a little smile come to my face when I realized that I'd finally get to talk to her.

Abby recognized me too – I guessed – from the way the horror melted off her face and was replaced with surprise and delight. She flung herself towards me and wrapped her arms around my neck. "You scared me!" She cried.

I laughed and returned the hug before pulling away, "Sorry." I said, "I should've warned you before coming close."

She smiled and batted her long lashed at me, "It's okay."

I looked around, "What're you doing here?" I asked.

She shrugged, "I was tired of being a burden." Her answer was delivered by a voice bathed in truth. "With everyone getting sick lately I figured it was time for me to finally pitch in and do my part."

"The Captain let you become a fighter? Just like that?" I was skeptical although maybe I shouldn't have been if he was also letting Jimmy out on a scout. Maybe the Captain was finally seeing the reality of our situation and deciding that we needed to use every resource we had.

"Yeah. His Lieutenant told me I could do sentry duty around camp, but no frontline stuff or scouts."

I nodded. So it was Danner's influence that was causing all these changes. I had to admit – grudgingly – that I agreed with most of it. We needed to start waking up and realizing that everyone needed to pull their own weight.

Gesturing to the fire, I smiled, "Ladies first." I followed her to sit down next to its warmth.

"Such a gentleman." She laughed, picking up the rifle she'd dropped and setting it down next to her. I could tell by the way she'd picked it up and held it that she'd never handled a weapon before. It was the same way I'd been when I first decided to fight back.

"It's freezing out." I breathed into my hands and then held them out over the fire, trying to get warm.

She grinned to herself and said, "Maybe if you didn't go parading through camp in your underwear you'd be warmer."

I laughed and shook my head, "You saw that huh?"

She nodded and pressed her lips together, "It was quite a spectacle. I've gotta say you and your brother, both put on a good show for all the girls at camp."

I felt my cheeks heat and looked away. I knew girls looked at me like that, but it was new and weird to hear someone talking about Ben in that way.

Abby shifted closer to me on the log and I smiled.

"Maybe sometime you could return the favor." I quickly pushed away my surprise at hearing her say girls liked Ben and got back into the game.

She bit her lip and we met eyes, "Maybe." She said and looked away, "But I'm not so sure."

I titled my head back and gave her an 'Is that so?' look.

"Sorry." She turned her face away in mock dislike, "But look at you. You're covered in dirt and sweat. I'm not that kind of girl."

I chuckled deeply and leaned in closer, placing one hand on the other side of her, "You forgot gasoline." I said, knowing that I was probably the cleanest guy at camp right now because of my lake escapade with Ben the other day.

"Oh gasoline?" She turned her head back a bit, "Well if there's a chance of you igniting like a firework at any time then that's a different story."

Our lips were only inches from each other now and my head was starting to feel foggy. She turned her head completely so that I could feel her soft breath on my chapped lips. Somewhere in the back of my mind there was a little voice screaming at me to stop and remember that we were on a mission.

I didn't think that I'd listen to it but just before I pressed my lips to hers I snapped out of my fog and turned my head the other way.

When I looked back at her I noticed that slightly hurt look in her eyes that was almost immediately covered up with understanding.

In that moment a silent conversation took place between us and I knew that she understood. We were both alone until three in the morning and a lot of dangerous things could happen in that time. Not simply being overrun by Skitters while we were too busy making out, but also the fact that we had no condoms and I wasn't really hoping to be a father before my seventeenth birthday.

Not that it would've gone that far in the first place but with the world in shambles like this, who could be certain?

"Why don't I show you how to strip that?" I nodded to her rifle and broke the silence between us.

"What?" She looked down at her gun, "Oh . . . uh yeah. That'd be cool."

I went over a few rules with her first; treat the gun as if it's always loaded, listen to my instructions exactly, and don't point that damn thing at me. The last of which she continued to forget . . . over and over again.

"Oops, sorry." She apologized with a little smile when I gave her the look I'd already given her multiple times that night. The girl seriously didn't know how to just not point her rifle at me.

I shook my head and let out a sigh, "Alright." I watched as she finished reassembling the weapon. "Good. Do it again."

She shot me a look.

"Please." I smiled and she nodded before getting to work.

"So how old are your brothers?" She asked while she was taking apart the receiver.

"Matt's eight and Ben's fourteen. Why?" I raised a brow at her as she began to get the hang of it with her rifle.

She shrugged but didn't stop pulling apart the gun, "Just wondering."

"Do you have any siblings?" I asked without thinking. I realized my mistake as soon as the words left my mouth and her eyes looked up at me with all the pain and suffering like ancient wounds that had just been slashed open.

"I had an older sister." She said quietly and went back to work.

I nodded and cleared my throat. "It sucks." I gave a slight laugh. "I know." I placed my hand on top of hers and stopped her. "You probably know about my dad. Everyone does. But we uh . . . we lost my mother too."

She didn't speak for a moment but then she looked up at me with emotional eyes. I'm not sure what was hidden in those depths but I felt a kinship with her, a bond of mutual pain and suffering.

"My dad took us to one of those refugee camps after they attacked." She confessed. "Me and my sister, Kerry," Abby shook her head, letting her long hair sway back and forth, "They attacked the day we got there."

I moved my hand from hers up to her shoulder and pulled her close. She dropped the rifle and collapsed into me, burying her head in my chest and holding back the sobs.

I slowly stroked my hand over her soft locks and said, "We lost Ben the same way. My dad told me to watch him and Matt but I- there were so many people running, I tried to look for him but he wasn't there . . ."

She lifted her head and sniffled, wiping away the tears from her red eyes, before smiling. It wasn't a happy smile; it was a desperate smile. We'd both lost people that we loved but throughout all the loss and tragedy we'd become stronger people. People, who could take a devastating blow, could lose everything, and still forge their own path in this fucked up world.

"You were from Boston right?" She asked, with a tear filled smile.

"Somerville." I nodded. "You?"

"Gloucester." She said, "Up north. I heard the city got the worst of it."

"Yeah," I scoffed, "The place was like a crypt. Porter gathered us all and we moved around for a bit before we were too big to stay. That's when we split up and became the 2nd Mass."

"That guy, Anthony, found me and brought me back to the high school in Acton. That's when I met up with you guys."

I had no idea that she'd joined us before the attack. That meant that she'd probably known my father.

"I never thought that I'd find a cute guy in all this mess." She laughed and lifted her hands before dropping them.

I smiled back.

"Sorry." She said, "I'm being a little too eager, I know," She laughed, "It's just that there's something about you Hal Mason."

I grinned and dropped my head.

"You're close with your brothers?" Abby asked after a few seconds of silence passed.

I looked into her green eyes and was reminded of Ben's. "Yeah," I smirked, "They're both complete pains in my ass but you know . . ."

She nodded, "I do . . ."

We left that conversation there, hanging on the thread of our love for our siblings.

"It's cold." She eventually said, shivering and shifting closer to me.

I repositioned my body and leaned back against the log, tightening my arm around her.

After an hour of sitting together in the cold night I could hear her breathing slow and knew that she'd gone to sleep. It wasn't something we were supposed to do while on watch and the Captain would probably have her washing dishes for months if he found out but I decided to let her sleep.

I ran my fingers through her silky hair and pushed it back from her smooth features. She was beautiful when she slept. She was beautiful all the time but when she slept she looked like an angel, with her long dark lashes laid out against her cheeks like ashes.

I was beginning to get tired myself, despite spending the whole day sleeping. She was just so warm, curled up at my side like this.

Then suddenly I heard a snapping sound in the woods and I jumped up, pushing Abby aside and lifting my rifle to prepare for an army of Skitters to come flooding past the tree line.

"What's happening?!" Abby cried, putting her hand on my calf and scanning the forest.

I stood alert for a moment but saw and heard nothing else. After a minute of silence and vigilance I began to realize that it was probably just a dear in the forest.

"Nothing," I sat back down and took her back into my arms. "Go back to sleep."

My common sense told me to relax and ignore the sound, it was clearly nothing, but for some reason I couldn't shake the suspicion that it was more than a forest critter.


	11. Secrets Divide

**Author's Note - This is another pretty short chapter but it sets up a lot of future events.**

**Thanks once again to all my readers. LoneWolfie, I think we all miss Ben whenever he's gone. Nope they didnt kiss...yet...maybe...you'll find out eventually. Also I think this chapter answers all of your questions/speculations but I can't confirm that until it's revealed in a future chapter. I'm glad my story makes you happy :D, that makes me happy. Cookie97, I will keep you wondering on that one. Although I'm pretty sure the summary answers that for you. AND A HUGE THANKYOU TO GREG FOR BETA-ING ONCE AGAIN, IM EXTREMELY GREATFUL FOR YOUR INPUT XD.**

**Please R&R, let me know about anythign you like and or don't like. Your reviews keep me going and all that junk :)**

**Beta-d by Greg.**

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11. Secrets Divide

"Hal." I felt a hand come to rest on my shoulder and woke with a start.

My eyes snapped open and I lifted my head to look up into Ben's green eyes.

The cabin was filled with pale light from the winter sun and Ben stood over me, dressed for his scout today.

I let my head fall back to the pillow. "You going?" I asked, throwing a bare arm over my eyes to shield them from the light.

"You too, c'mon." He grabbed my arm and pulled it away from my eyes.

"What?" I sat up and furrowed my brow at him, wiping the sleep from my eyes.

"Weaver just told me to come get you. You're assigned to our scout."

I looked at him with my mouth slightly agape. My sleep clouded brain could barely comprehend what he was saying.

"Let's go." He tugged on my arm.

"Yeah, alright." I mumbled; throwing my arm over his shoulder and letting him help me out of bed.

Once on my own two feet I immediately sat down on the edge of the bed; too tired to stand.

"Hal, I'm not kidding. We're leaving." Ben let out an annoyed sigh and began to scour the room and collect my clothes.

"Why didn't Weaver let me know earlier?" I asked, resting my head in my hands.

"Not sure." He said shortly as he picked up my cargo pants and shook them out.

"Where's Jimmy?"

Ben picked up my socks, "Getting Maggie up."

"Maggie's coming?" I asked, perking up a bit. I hadn't spent much time with her since we arrived at the camp.

This earned a stony look from Ben for some reason. "Yeah," He walked over to me with all of my clothes in his arms and tossed the pile into my lap. "Get dressed. I'll be outside."

I narrowed my eyes at him and reached out to grab his shoulder, "Ben-" I said, but he shook me off and disappeared out the door.

After staring at the closed door for a minute in silence I shook my head and blew out a heavy sigh. "I don't have time for this shit."

I dressed quickly before standing up and shoving my boots on. I wiped a hand across my forehead and gathered the rest of my things; gloves, coat, rifle, watch, and utility belt.

When I left the cabin I saw Ben seated on the front steps with his back to me.

I made a quick decision that I wasn't going to buy into his bullshit cry for attention.

"We going?" I asked as emotionlessly as I could.

He didn't respond; simply standing up and walking down the trail that led to the main road.

I followed after him but kept my distance. When we reached the road Jimmy and Maggie were already waiting with two motorcycles and a backpack full of supplies.

"You two alright?" Maggie eyed us with suspicion.

"We're fine." I answered without hesitation. I didn't put much effort into it and it only served to let everyone know that we, in fact, were far from alright.

Maggie shook her head slightly and seemed to push out all thoughts except for those of the mission. "Get on Jimmy." She said, patting the back of her motorcycle.

That meant Ben was riding with me.

I walked over and climbed onto the motorcycle that Jimmy had just abandoned, kicking up the kickstand.

I didn't say anything to Ben but he sat down behind me a second later and I felt his hands on my abdomen. Even the way he was touching me clearly said that he had nothing but contempt for me at the moment.

As we started our bikes up and began riding I decided to annoy Ben even more. If he was gonna be a little bitch, I was gonna treat him like one.

I leaned back and got myself comfortable – using him to support my weight. He recoiled at the extra touching immediately and almost fell off the back of the bike.

"Stop it." He said shortly, tightening his grip on my stomach so he wouldn't fall.

I leaned up again and let him reposition himself so he was stable. In retrospect it probably wasn't the right thing to risk him becoming road kill just because he was pissing me off. I felt guilty about it but there wasn't much I could do now.

When we arrived in a nearby city Maggie and I parked the bikes behind an old gas station before circling around front to plan out our mission.

After a few minutes of deliberation we decided that Ben and Jimmy would set up for the night here while me and Maggie picked the area clean of any useful supplies.

"We'll be back by night." Maggie told Jimmy before we left.

He nodded and smiled, before heading inside to help Ben prepare for an overnight stay.

I walked with Maggie down the road; checking all the pharmacies and drug stores we found.

Our search returned only meager results. After about two hours of searching, we only had a few bottles of aspirin, a box of gauze bandages, some minor medical equipment, and a few different prescription meds.

Deciding that we could widen our search by splitting up, the two of us went our own separate ways and agreed to meet back up at the gas station before sunset.

I wandered the desolate streets for hours, kicking an old can and jumping at the sound of the wind. The few stores that I did check yielded few rewards and I was about to call it quits when something caught my eye.

Down the street was a little shop on a corner. The windows were tinted dark and an unlit sign proclaiming 'Maxxie's Convenience' hung lopsided on the front door.

Something about the little brick store intrigued me. It didn't look like a normal convenience store, instead there was just something a little . . . sleazy about it.

Deciding to make one more stop before I went back to the gas station, I headed for the store.

When I pulled open the front door I was a little apprehensive about the darkness inside but my eyes adjusted quickly and I realized that if I kept the door open then it wasn't all that dark.

I entered and slowly walked up and down the small aisles, my eyes scanning the numerous racks holding stale candy bars and boxes of condoms and 'women items'. I figured that the latter might be something that was needed back at camp but then something else entirely caught my eye.

I made my way to the back of the store and reached for the item that had distracted me. The light from outside was reflecting off of the glass bottle. I held it out lengthwise and blew on it; sending a cloud of dust into the air but revealing exactly what I'd hoped for. Vodka.

I smirked to myself and quickly slid it into my backpack. This trip had suddenly seemed worth it.

As I was about to leave one more thing grabbed my attention. Underneath the counter were several magazines but one stood out from the rest.

The cover displayed some blonde chick with huge boobs bent over in a miniskirt and shooting the viewer a seductive look. The title underneath her ass decreed, 'Slutty Blondes'. Old-school as it was I don't think anyone could blame me for taking it.

Even in a world where there was no one around for miles I felt the unnecessary need to slip the magazine into my bag discreetly; like I was some thirteen year old kid stealing a porn magazine.

When in fact I was a sixteen year old kid stealing a porn magazine.

I quickly grabbed some gum and whatever candy I didn't think went bad, before exiting the shop with my plundered goods.

The blue sky was tinged with a mix of orange and pink; alerting me to the fact that there was only another hour – maybe two – of daylight left. With this in mind I began the long trek back to the gas station, hoping to get there before dark. I wasn't really all that excited to be walking around after dark with who knows what lurking around every corner.

I got back just as the sun was dipping below the horizon and the sky turned black.

"You were supposed to be back before sunset." Maggie was waiting outside for me.

I shrugged, "Got sidetracked."

"Did you find anything useful?" She questioned.

"Not much." I shook my head.

She seemed to think this was an acceptable answer and nodded inside, "Ben and Jimmy are getting ready to sleep. We've got first watch."

I smiled at her and followed her inside.

"It's been a while." She said as we each took a seat on the front counter.

"Yeah." I looked around, "Where are they?"

"Back room." She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder.

I nodded. "What've you been doing around camp?" I asked, examining the floor of the gas station.

"Mostly helping Sarah take care of Charlotte." She sighed, wiping a hand across her brow, "The Captain's been letting me guard the armory so I'm always close. This is my first real mission in a while."

"The baby's doing good?" I asked.

"Yeah," She pressed her lips together, tucking a wavy blonde strand behind her ear. "Dr. Glass is really good with her and we've been keeping her inside, away from everyone who's sick."

I saw the look she gave me out of the corner of my eye and held my hands up in mock surrender. "It's not my fault." I laughed.

"Uh huh." She huffed, skeptically. "I've heard the stories. You and Ben going swimming in the lake like idiots."

I smirked, "We needed to get clean." My response was simple.

She shook her head. "Everyone at camp smells like crap. Why do the Masons need to smell like flowers?"

I knew that she wasn't seriously implying the 'princeling' thing me and my brothers had to deal with before the Boston attack. Maggie was never like that and even Pope had let up on it since our dad left us.

"We still smell like crap." I smiled my trademark smile at her, "Just a little bit less like crap than the rest of you." This earned me a sharp look from my partner. "Besides, Ben's fourteen." I leaned in close, "I know how he spends his spare time and if he doesn't wash up down there, he'd get some weird rash."

For the first time since I'd met her, I think I actually saw Maggie blush. I wasn't certain however because she dropped her head and let her hair block my view of her face like a radiant curtain.

"Gross." Was all she responded with.

I laughed and turned my brown eyes on her, "How's Jimmy been. You still watch out for him?"

This seemed to make her more comfortable than talking about my brother's jerking off habits. She turned her head and met my eyes.

"We made a deal." She said with that motherly, protective, 'Maggie' look in her eyes. "I've kept up my end and so has he." Her words might seem cold without the added emotion in her voice and the look in her eyes, but that all mixed to tell me that Jimmy was hers and she would kill for him.

I turned my eyes to the floor again and felt silence wash over us in the darkness.

"They've been hanging out a lot lately." I said eventually. "Ben and Jimmy, I mean."

She didn't answer me for so long that I thought she was asleep. I was about to turn and get her attention when she said, "They have."

That wasn't an adequate response for me.

Looking at her seated next to me on the counter I said, "What're you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that they're both teenage boys who are going through a lot of unnecessary shit right now and they need each other. They need a friend." The look she gave me then made me feel ashamed for even asking the question. "They're good for each other. They can tell each other things that they can't tell us."

"There's nothing Ben can't tell me-"

"Yes." She held a hand up to stop me. "There's a lot Ben can't tell you. You're his big brother."

I didn't say anything in response to that, because I knew she was right. Maggie was always right. She was the only person who that was true about anymore, ever since . . . ever since mom died.

She and Maggie were a lot alike actually. There was just something about them that made me want to fight against every last word they said even though I knew they were right from the start. And despite that resistance I knew that they were always there for me; even if they needed to show it by being tough.

We sat in the silence for a long while. After an hour or two, sitting on the counter became unbearable and I broke our stillness by getting up with a great sigh and stumbling around the dark room.

"You're gonna wake the boys up." Maggie stated with an utter coolness.

"I'm just trying to,-shit!" I cried out as I bumped my shin on a metal rack.

Maggie shushed me with a loud hiss and I sat down on the floor near the front entrance; rolling up the leg of my pants to examine my shin. Just a small bump, but it hurt like hell.

"Stop being a big baby." She said in a tongue-in-cheek way.

"It hurt." The response left my mouth before I realized how stupid it sounded.

I could see her brown eyes on me even through the darkness. "Too easy." She smiled a wide grin – the kind I hadn't seen in a while – and looked away.

The next few hours passed in a mixture of easy silence and teasing banter. Before tonight I hadn't been all that sure where Maggie was when it came to us, but now I knew that she was there for me and Ben. Time passed too fast it seemed and soon it was time for us to wake up the boys and get some sleep.

"I'll get them." I stood and crossed the room to the door that led to the backroom. There was still another good three or four hours until the sun came up and we could leave.

I pushed open the door and walked into the small room that was cluttered with sleeping bags and tangled limbs.

Apparently neither boy could sleep still.

I shut the door behind me and knelt down over the mess. Reaching out I grasped a bare leg and shook; unsure who I was trying to wake up.

I got my answer when Jimmy's head snapped up. There was a terrified look in his clear blue eyes but it dissipated the moment he realized it was just me; only to be replaced by an uncomfortable look due to his current entanglement with Ben.

"You two need straitjackets." I laughed.

Jimmy answered with a grunt and scratched the back of his head. "Ben." He said, slamming a fist down on the lump under the covers.

Ben's head popped out from the mess with a dopey confused look on his face.

"What?" He mumbled, looking at Jimmy with sleep filled eyes.

"Our watch." Jimmy pulled his arms free of the pile and used them to pry his legs out.

Jimmy left the room then – stopping at the door to put his pants back on – and left me and Ben alone.

I was expecting the same tired look he gave Jimmy but instead I got an annoyed glare as Ben sat up.

"Problem?" I asked him.

He didn't answer me.

Ben pushed the sleeping bags away from him and sat cross-legged on the floor, pressing a hand to his forehead and trying to force the sleep from his head.

I placed a hand on his shoulder; which he immediately recoiled away from.

"Ben-" My voice was soft and open, the tone I always took on when I needed him to open up to me.

"Christ Hal, shut up." He reached over for his sneakers and began to put them on.

I was actually taken aback by his words for a second. They stung like a knife being plunged into my gut. He was probably just grumpy from sleeping in a storage closet but for some reason I felt a pain deeper than him just being Ben. It was like he was mad at me.

Reaching out, I smoothed down his bedhead and this time he didn't pull away. His eyes fell shut and for a moment he looked at peace; like he'd just set down a thousand pound weight.

"What's going on Ben?" I asked in the same tone as before.

At that his eyes snapped open again.

"Nothing," He said. I caught his gaze with mine. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "I'm just tired is all. Sorry."

I furrowed my brow at him but this wasn't the time for a discussion on why he was mad at me. He had a job to do.

I offered him a hand and he took it. I pulled him to his feet and then sat down, taking off my own boots and handing them to him.

He took them and set them down in the corner, along with my belt, watch, rifle, and shirt – which I also took off and handed to him.

"We're talking when we get back to camp." I informed him as he was about to leave.

His head turned back towards me, just slightly; an acknowledgement of my statement. Then he left without another word.

I grabbed his sleeping bag and slid inside, shivering at the sudden warmth that surrounded me. I don't know how that kid could stand to sleep under any sort of covers with the way he generated heat. If I was him I'd probably be sleeping naked on a block of ice every night.

Maggie came into the room a minute later and wordlessly climbed into Jimmy's sleeping bag.

A year ago I wouldn't have been able to get to sleep if I'd been lying down next to a girl in a tight space. But now – shockingly – I was apparently more mature and the thought barely crossed my mind.

What was the world coming too?


	12. I'm Not Okay

**Author's Note - So I've got to say that this is probably my favorite chapter so far. I don't know why I like it so much but I do and I'm actually really proud of it. And it also does a lot to further the storyline.**

**Same old thing to you all, your all great, amazing, keeping me going, etc. XD. seriously, I don't think I'd be able to keep going without your encouragement. LoneWolfie, Your reviews always make me smile and laugh :D. I'm glad you think I write the characters IC. You'll just had to keep on reading to find out I guess ;). I hope this chap doesnt dissapoint. JDMlvr1, lmao thanks I added that in just because I felt like it needed a little bit of humor and to shake Maggie's always cool demeanor. Divina91, there may be or there may not be X), youll have to continue on to find out.**

**So yeah, read and review please! Your support/criticism/ideas means so much to me!**

**(Beta'd by Greg)**

* * *

12. I'm Not Okay

We got back to camp in the early hours of the morning; just in time for the Captain to announce a hunting trip and assign Ben to one of the parties.

I hadn't forgotten about our talk, but there wasn't much I could do right then. The Captain was apparently turning over a new leaf and using whatever resources we had available. I knew that it was Danner's influence but I also knew that it was what was necessary.

Resolving to discuss Ben's attitude later, I gave him a quick pat on the shoulder and said, "Come straight home when you're done."

Not waiting for a response, I turned and hurried off towards our cabin.

I pulled open the creaking door and saw that Matt wasn't around. He'd stayed in Lourdes' shared cabin last night and apparently he was still with her.

Quickly unzipping my bag, I pulled out my loot – the vodka and magazine – and stashed them in the nightstand beside mine and Matt's bed.

I dropped my bag with the rest of its contents onto the floor and set down my rifle. While almost everyone else at camp was either on the hunting trip or sentry duty, I was left without a post.

I was pissed to be left out – being one of the most experienced soldiers of the 2nd Mass – but for the first time in a while I had the chance to hang out with Matt.

Figuring that he was out to breakfast with Lourdes; I decided to head to the dining hall first and see if I could track them down.

My guess proved to be correct and I saw the two of them sitting together with Anne, Jamil and Sarah.

"What's up?" I asked as I came up behind Matt and ruffled his hair; deciding to skip on breakfast today.

"Hal!" Matt turned and hugged me as I sat down beside him. "Where's Ben?"

"The Captain sent him out on a hunting trip. He'll be back in a few hours." I nodded my thanks to Lourdes. That girl was a lifesaver for my family.

"How was the scout?" Anne asked me in a familial manner, "No injuries for me to treat?" She smiled her sweet motherly smile.

"Nope," I shook my head, "Nothing to report."

"Is Maggie still here?" Sarah asked suddenly. Then explained, "We had plans for later. Uncle Scott is watching Charlotte for the day."

"Yeah, she went to drop off the supplies we found with Ryerson." I nodded, smiling at the young woman. "Uncle Scott's doing better?"

Anne answered that question. "He's made a full recovery." She said with gravity, "It was touch and go for a bit but he's up and around now. I don't think I've ever seen him this lively."

"That's good." I bumped Matt's shoulder with mine, "Ben will want to see him."

I noticed Jamil sizing me up at that moment and shot him a sidelong glance.

The others had all started up a conversation about how cute baby Charlotte was and I took the opportunity to finally meet the young engineer.

"Hey man." I reached my hand out across the table.

His response was slow but he shook my hand and replied, "Hey."

There was something about him that I wasn't so sure about. He seemed like a decent guy but there was something in his rational eyes that made me feel like he wasn't on my side.

Lourdes saw us talking and beamed. "You boys getting along?"

"Of course." Jamil answered first and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, making her drop her head and brush her bangs back.

"I'm gonna go find Maggie." Sarah smiled at Anne as they finished up their conversation. She stood and quickly gave us all a short goodbye, before heading off.

"We should be going too." Lourdes said, placing a hand on Jamil's forearm.

"Hot date?" I teased her; earning myself a look from Jamil.

"Not too hot." Anne said immediately, giving Lourdes a warning glance. "I love Charlotte but we don't need any more pregnancies around here."

"Oh my god." Lourdes dropped her head in embarrassment and pulled Jamil away from the table at a lightning pace.

"That girl's gonna give us trouble." I leaned back and folded my hands on top of my head, giving Anne a smug grin.

Anne shook her head at me. "If there's anyone who I need to worry about giving me trouble it's you."

I lifted my brow at her.

"I hear you've been hanging out with Abby."

"Oh." I said dumbly.

"Who's Abby?" Matt asked me.

"No one," I said quickly. "Just a friend."

Anne shook her head at me. "Do we need to have a talk about 'safety'?" She asked.

"God no," I huffed. "I'm sixteen Anne; even Ben's already had that talk with my dad."

She smiled, knowing that it was an uncomfortable subject for me. "Just offering a woman's perspective," The doctor laughed, "Come to me if you need any . . . 'safety precautions'."

"We're done here." I stood up with a red face and grabbed Matt's collar, yanking him away from the table.

"What was Dr. Glass talking about, Hal?" Matt asked innocently as we headed for the door.

"Nothing." I shrugged off his question. Matt was only eight years old. He was just beginning to become aware that babies weren't made by marriage or kissing; and there was no way in hell I was giving him the sex talk. If it came down to it and someone needed to then I'd send him to Ben, so that the dork could give him all the medical terms. Knowing me I probably wouldn't be able to keep the conversation clean anyway.

We walked back to our cabin in silence and I held the door open for Matt.

He walked in and took a seat on Ben's bed, pulling his knees up and placing his head between them.

I saw the obvious display of melancholy and took a seat across from him on our bed.

"What's the matter buddy?" I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees.

"Nothing." He mumbled into his knees, with a bit of contempt.

I furrowed my brow at his slight form, "Seriously Matt. Tell me."

He murmured something inaudible.

"A little louder." I prodded.

He finally lifted his face and said, "You and Ben are always gone and I'm left here by myself! I'm not a baby; I should be able to go with you guys!"

I was a little bit shaken by his sudden outburst but I kept my cool and stood up, crossing the room to sit beside him and put my arm around his small body.

He made an attempt to pull away but I held him tight.

"Listen." I said softly, "I don't even like that Ben goes out on missions now and he's gonna be fifteen soon. You're still eight. I know it sucks being left out but trust me; you'll get your chance. Once you're old enough I'll teach you how to shoot, okay?"

He didn't answer at first, still huffing about me not immediately agreeing with him and handing him a rifle.

"Fine." He said eventually.

"That didn't sound like you're fine." I pushed, moving my hand from his shoulder down to the side of his belly.

"Shut up, Hal."

"What?" I smirked and turned to face him, digging my fingers in a little and grabbing his other side with my free hand.

"No!" A bright smile overtook his face as he understood my intentions and he tried to push my away with his knees. "Hal, get lost! Seriously!"

I shook my head. "That's not how you get what you want." With that I began tickling him the way I used to when he was upset.

"Hal!" He hollered, trying to force me away with every ounce of strength he had in his eight year old body. His knee came up hard and hit me in the chest but I wasn't deterred. "Get off!" He cried.

"Ask nicely." I smiled, continuing to torture my brother with slight movements of my fingers on his soft belly.

"Can't breathe!" He yelled.

"All I want is a please." I said.

He had his knees between us now and was trying to pry me off but it was working to no avail.

"Please Hal! Stop!" He coughed as he began to run out of oxygen.

I nodded satisfactorily and stood up, leaving my little brother a sweaty, coughing, mess of laughter on Ben's bed.

"You suck." He said when he finally gained back control of his breathing.

"What?" I lifted a brow and stepped closer again.

"Nothing, sorry." He answered quickly, not wanting another bout of tickling.

"That's what I thought." I laughed at the look on his face and sat next to him again. This time when I went to put my arm around him, he pulled away; thinking I was going to tickle him.

He seemed to get that the game was over however and leaned into me, letting me hold him close.

"I promise you'll get your chance one day." I whispered. "As much as I hate that . . . you'll get to fight one day."

He looked up at me with his big brown eyes and nodded. But somehow I knew that this issue wasn't closed.

I hugged him tight and settled back against the wall behind Ben's bed, letting Matt rest his head on my chest.

I was warm for the first time in a while and soon sleep claimed me like a thief in the night.

I woke with a start when I heard our cabin door slam shut.

My head popped up and I saw Ben standing at the door, dropping his stuff and giving me and Matt a disinterested glance.

I turned my head and saw Matt still sleeping against my side.

"Hey." I shifted against him, in an attempt to prop him up some more, "Hey, Matt." His eyes fluttered, "Get up bud."

"It's dinner time." Ben said with apathy as he took off his coat.

"Dinner, Matt." I teased and saw him fully open his eyes.

"What?" He asked dumbly.

"C'mon, get up. It's time for dinner." I said softly.

"Okay." He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, before hopping off the bed and looking at Ben. "You're home." He said and walked over to give Ben a hug.

I saw all traces of coldness fade from Ben's face as Matt wrapped his arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. Ben returned the hug with one arm and said, "Yeah buddy. Go get dinner; we'll hang out later okay?"

Matt nodded and turned to me to make sure that he was allowed to go.

I nodded, "Go. I'll be there in a minute."

As Matt left the room I stood up and crossed my arms.

"So?" I asked.

"What?" Ben shot me an annoyed glance.

"What's your problem?" I demanded, my eyes scanning his body for any injuries he might've gotten while on his hunt.

"No problem." He set his jaw and finished discarding his equipment. "Let's go get dinner."

"Yeah right." I laughed cynically and placed a hand on his chest to stop him.

He immediately shifted away and took a step back.

"Ben." I reasoned, "What's going on?"

"Nothing!" He huffed, exasperatedly. "I'm hungry and you won't let us leave!"

"I'd probably believe that if I didn't know that you can go days without food, so cut it out and tell me your issue." I said coolly.

"There's no issue." Ben turned away and stared at the wooden floor.

That's when I saw something that made me – temporarily – push our conversation to the back of my mind again.

"Hold still." I stepped up close to him and pushed his hair away from the nape of his neck.

"What-" He protested and tried to shove me away.

"Shut up and hold still." I said in a short, clipped voice that I usually reserved for dangerous situations or tense arguments.

I ran a calloused thumb down his soft neck and over the dark spot, feeling the bump there. Not his spikes. This bump was a few inches higher and to the right, just under his hairline.

"Hal what're you doing?" He asked, wincing when I gently tugged on it.

"You picked up a hitchhiker you idiot." I said and ripped the tick off of his neck. I quickly moved to pick my lighter up off the nightstand and lit the little fucker on fire.

"What the hell?!" Ben turned to face me and pressed a hand to the spot on his neck.

"You had a tick, dumbass." I nodded to the smoldering dot that I'd dropped to the floor, before crushing it into ash with my boot.

He stared at the spot on the floor before looking back at me with defeat in his eyes. "You could've just told me." He muttered.

"Doesn't matter," I shrugged, "I took care of it. Now I need to check you though."

"What?" He stepped back, "No, Hal, I'm not five."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Ben you were in the woods for a few hours. I need to make sure you don't have any others."

"You're not mom." That stung and we both knew it was a cheap shot to even bring her up. He seemed to regret it immediately though and looked down before meeting my eyes again. "Even if I have one it's not like it'll get me sick. I'm probably immune to anything it could give me."

"Yeah but Matt's not," I argued. "What happens when it falls off and then gives him something that'll kill him?"

Using Matt was an even cheaper shot but I knew it was an easy path to victory.

The thought of Matt getting sick because of him played out in Ben's eyes visibly, and a moment later he nodded. "Fine. Just make it quick."

"I will." I nodded and pointed to the floor beside mine and Matt's bed. "Sit there."

I sat on the bed and Ben sat between my boots – facing me –, resting his head against my denim-clad thigh and waiting for me to get this over with.

I reached down and ran my fingers through his dirty blonde hair lightly; just scanning the surface to see if he picked up any other bloodsuckers.

His hair was coarse but soft under my fingers and I – absentmindedly – found my hands lingering on his head. I caught myself though and snapped out of it; continuing my search. He had so much hair that it wasn't an easy task and I suddenly wished I simply had clippers to shave his head.

"You need a haircut." I said, as I searched.

Ben didn't respond with words, simply murmuring in agreement.

Inspecting him for ticks was made even more difficult by the fact that his hair was matted with blood, sweat, and dirt.

After a minute of running my fingers through his hair and finding nothing, I did one last quick onceover and let go of his head.

"Done?" He asked, lifting his head to look me in the eye.

My breath caught in my throat.

Ben was seated on the floor between my legs, looking up at me with an innocent trust in his eyes that I had hardly seen since he was ten. The sight was strange to me and I didn't understand the flood of emotions that filled my veins.

There was warmth deep in the pit of my stomach and I felt it pool in my abdomen, stirring something dark in me that was immediately suppressed.

My head clouded and my hands felt clammy; for a moment I thought I might throw up on him. At least then I'd have payback for Six Flags.

Quickly wiping my hands on my jeans and passing off my symptoms as a sudden bout of nausea; I said, "Uh-um, no. Stand up."

He did as told but eyed me with concern. "You alright, Hal?"

"Yeah." I said softly, before restating in a more assertive tone. "Yeah. I'm fine. Take your shirt off."

His eyes met mine and I saw a shyness there that I'd begun to hate. All of a sudden – in the past few weeks – Ben had become shy when undressing around me. It pissed me off considering this was the kid who I'd showered with almost every day until I hit puberty.

But he saw the argument build in my eyes and quickly complied, pulling the dirty fabric from his skin and dropping it to the floor.

I cleared my throat and stepped a little bit closer to him, running my hands over his smooth stomach briskly, doing my best not to make him anymore uncomfortable.

I had to shake myself out of rubbing comforting circles on his developing abdomen several times. When he was younger and used to sleep in my bed at night I would rub his back and hold him close and now the urge to do that came back once again. He was my little brother after all but I knew that he was too old for that. Hell, so wasn't I.

His body was smooth and easy to scan with my eyes so I didn't spend more than a few seconds looking at his chest and stomach.

"Lift your arms." I tapped his elbow and he obeyed.

He'd recently grown some hair under his arms but not much. He was fourteen so I somewhat already knew that but it was different seeing how much he'd grown up.

"You're good." I mumbled. "Turn around."

Ben turned and looked down at his shoes; seemingly wishing for this whole situation go by faster.

I did the best I could to hide my surprise at the sight.

I hadn't seen his bare back in weeks. Of course I had seen him without his shirt – at the lake the other day even – but I hadn't really looked at his back.

The spikes were still there, sticking out of his skin along his spine every few inches and baring their sharp edges threateningly. They always freaked me out – especially when you could see them underneath his shirt – but they weren't what had surprised me. What shocked and horrified me were the dark patches of hardened skin that encompassed the lower spikes.

I could tell by the tension in his shoulders that he already knew about the hard patches and was waiting with bated breath for my reaction.

Swallowing my astonishment and putting on the 'nonjudgmental big brother' façade I completely ignored the new revelation and continued on my search.

My thumbs brushed the skin lightly, searching for anything out of place on the already deformed surface. His shoulder blades shifted uncomfortably under my touch and I was again mesmerized by his body; the way the muscles moved lithely under the pale skin held my attention for far too long as my hands aimlessly roamed his back.

Even more distracting were the two little indents just above his waistline that kept on pulling my eyes back down.

Snapping myself out of my sudden fascination with Ben's body, I took a step back.

"Okay." I coughed into my fist. "Your, um, pants."

He knew that arguing was pointless by now and began to unbutton them without a complaint. What he didn't know however, was that my mind was weak and foggy and if he'd fought me then, he probably would've won.

Ben sat on my bed and took off his belt, dropping it to the floor. Then he untied each of his shoes and let them fall to the ground with two thuds, before finally sliding his jeans off.

The entire time he was taking off his clothes my eyes never left his smooth pale skin once.

He stayed seated once he was done and looked down at his folded hands, before clearing his throat and giving me a shy but compliant look.

I nodded like he'd just given me some expected news and tried once again to squash the twisted yearnings that were pushing me towards something that I didn't even understand.

Getting down on my knees in between his legs, I noticed his cheeks grow red. I ignored it and did my best to focus on the task at hand.

He was dressed only in his light blue plaid boxers and socks now and I realized that he rarely took off any clothing anymore. He hardly ever wore extra layers when it was cold out but he also never walked around our cabin in his boxers like me and Matt did.

My fingers circled his ankles and I quickly checked the thin leg hair that led up to his knees before letting go of him and nodding satisfactorily.

"You're all set." I stood up, trying to put a few feet of distance between us so I could clear my head.

Before I'd even gone a foot though, he reached out and caught my wrist.

He quickly released me when I turned to look at him but then nodded at me.

"I should, um; I should probably check you now." He seemed oddly tentative and that put back some of my normal self.

I quirked a brow at him. "Why?" I asked with a little more fervor than I'd planned, "I haven't gone on any hunts in a while." I clarified.

"Yeah," He agreed, "But we had to walk through the woods to get to the lake the other day. And you were on that watch near the old tree house."

I stared into his green eyes for a few bloated seconds before nodding my head and taking a seat between his legs – facing away from him.

I supposed he was right and I'd be a hypocrite if I'd checked him to prevent anything bad from happening to Matt and then refused to let myself be checked.

"Hurry up though." I said, knocking his leg with my elbow. "We won't make it in time for dinner if you take too long."

"Okay." He said almost silently.

I felt his soft fingers combing through my hair a moment later.

All attempts to subdue the fog in my head were quickly defeated and within one second I went from 'mostly-in-control' to 'completely-losing-it'.

I felt like I couldn't breathe as his hands rubbed through my dark hair and his fingers gently swept behind my ears.

That warmth in the pit of my stomach came back with a vengeance and I lost all coherent thought process.

My mind was too overwhelmed with this rush of foreign emotion and sensation that I didn't notice Ben's hands lingering in the same way my own had.

But as he quickly checked the back of my neck once more he seemed to decide he had done a thorough enough job.

His small hand came down and clasped my bicep, squeezing before pulling away.

"You're all set." His voice sounded high and tight.

I stood up but didn't turn to look at him immediately. I wasn't thinking straight right now and I felt like I couldn't contain my emotions. Like some goddamned teenage girl on her period. There was an image – if there was any – to bring my sense of judgment back.

"I can finish checking myself later." I coughed and turned my head slightly to look back at him.

He was seated on the bed with his legs spread and his face flushed. I couldn't bring myself to meet his eyes but I felt them on me; open and vulnerable.

"I'll see you at dinner." I quickly moved for the front door and opened it, letting in a rush of cold air and common sense. "Go uh, go check yourself, before you leave."

He saw my subtle nod towards his crotch and knew what I meant.

With that my job was done here and I all but ran from the cabin that usually made me feel at home. Right now it was a strange place, filled with strange emotions.

Weighing the pros and cons of sitting down at dinner with Ben, I made a quick decision to skip it and ignore my hunger. Instead I turned onto a separate path and headed for the lake, hoping to find the peace and quiet I needed to clear my head.

The chilling New England air helped a lot and I began to forget about the issue back at the cabin. The further I got away from that place and away from Ben, the easier I found it to rid myself of those confusing sentiments.

By the time I reached the lake I had completely subdued my confusion and recomposed myself.

Right then I knew that I needed to never let myself get like that again and to prevent that from happening I made an unconscious decision to stifle and oppress whatever it was inside of me that made me weak.

I needed to crush it before it took root and became something much too big for me to stop.


	13. Running from Myself

**Author's Note - This chapter is wicked short and theres no Ben, so i mean, no one would blame you if you skip it lol.**

**A huge thank you to all of my readers, i love you guys alot XD. Greg, I'm glad to have you back reviewing again! :) I know, i know, but it will come soon enough. Divina91, that's what I'm hoping for. I know I'm keeping you all waiting but I'm getting there. And yeah Matts adorable and I really like how they portrayed him in season 2. 2ndMassRedneck, no worries bro, I knew you would lol I remembered that from your story. Yeah, I couldnt really just ignore it so it's going to be an issue but not really a major one...not yet anyway. Thanks :D. LoneWolfie, that is perfectly acceptable. I'll even help write your vows. You're enthusiasm with my story really helps encourage me. The feelings mutual XD. Anonymous Guest, I hope this short thing is okay for now. XD, thanks and yeah he told me, I'll elaborate on that in the next paragraph.**

**Okay so my friend 2ndMassRedneck recently told me that he wanted to let me take over his story, Won't Let Them Take You (one of my favorites and a big reason I started writing.) But it's a heavy workload already and at the moment I'm not sure if I can handle that. To make matters more difficult I'm getting started on a joint Falling Skies story with one of my favorite reviewers (the amazing LW). So I thought alot about it and I will take on the story but once he pulls it down I will put up one of the old chapters once every week or maybe two so that I have time to write and can give myself some breathing room. Hopefully I can juggle all three of these things and not fail miserably but we will see.**

**Now enough of my depressingness, go read! You guys are great!**

**(Beta'd by Greg)**

13. Running from Myself

I didn't return to the cabin that night. Instead I broke curfew and sat in the cold by the lake – letting the icy chill of the night air make me temporarily forget about my troubles.

Eventually I fell asleep, leaning against a rock with my arms wrapped around myself to keep warm. I knew I shouldn't be staying out in the cold after just learning my lesson from swimming in the lake but I knew I couldn't go back there yet.

Morning came too soon and I was woken up by the sounds of camp life beginning across the lake and the first, pale, warm rays of sunlight stretching down to gently heat the frozen earth.

I let out a groan and scratched the back of my head as I sat up. A rock definitely didn't make a good pillow and I knew that my back and neck were going to ache all day.

I pulled myself to my feet – using the rock as leverage – and stretched my arms out.

I'd have to get back to camp quickly, before one of my brothers ratted me out to Weaver. If the Captain found out that I didn't go back to the cabin last night I'd probably be scrubbing pots for the next two weeks.

I took my time getting there though, knowing that I was either going to be faced with punishment or Ben. I wasn't sure which one was worse at the moment.

When I reached camp I kept my head down and tried to avoid the others; hoping to make it back to our cabin before anyone noticed that I hadn't been there.

I was standing on the front steps when I heard; "Mason!" called out from behind me.

My thoughts immediately went to Captain Weaver and it didn't even register in my mind that the voice that'd called me was at least twenty years younger.

But when I turned to face the man, my fears of punishment dimmed somewhat as I realized that it wasn't the Captain – or even one of his underlings.

It was a young man named Wes, who'd been in Tector's old squad. I didn't know him all that well but we'd met on a scout once.

"What's up?" I asked, trying to hide my nervousness with nonchalance.

"The Captain assigned me to a watch this morning but I made-" He glanced over his shoulder to where a woman waited, sitting on the front of his cabin steps, "er, prior arrangements. Would you mind taking it for me? It's at the old tree house."

My mind raced quickly and it was decided within a second that taking his watch was my backdoor out of trouble and a way to keep my distance from the cabin and my brother.

I gave a cocky-knowing smile to the girl and then him before nodding, "Yeah man, don't worry about it."

He smiled back, turning to look at the girl momentarily, before facing me again, "Thanks Mason."

"No problem." I shrugged as he walked away, "Have fun!"

Just then the cabin door behind me creaked open and I whipped around to face Matt, sleepy-eyed and confused.

"Hal?" He asked, rubbing at his eyes.

I panicked as I heard Ben ask Matt something and I knew that I needed to get out of here.

"I'll be home later. I'm on watch." I said quickly and hurriedly made my way away from our cabin, before Ben came to the door and saw me.

I went straight for the tree house, not bothering to look back and check if Ben or Matt were following.

When I got to the post I saw a familiar face relaxing on the platform around the tree house.

"You're late." Maggie called to me from her place, twenty feet off the ground.

"I'm taking over for Wes." I responded, slowing my pace and stopping at the spot where Abby and I had sat by the fire.

She nodded slowly, "Explains why the Lieutenant didn't tell me you were going to be my partner." Then her critical yet somehow relaxed and familial expression focused on me once again. "It also explains why you're grossly underprepared."

I glanced down at myself and didn't get what she meant at first. I had my boots on, a watch, my coat. Then I realized that I'd left my rifle in the cabin last night.

"Doesn't matter," She shrugged. "It's not like the Skitters are going to come through here anyway, but if they do," She paused and raised her eyebrows at me, "You're the one getting latrine duty."

I chuckled and gave her a thumbs up. "Deal," I took a seat on a tree stump. "How's the baby doing?" I asked in an attempt at casual conversation.

"Charlotte's fine." Maggie said, "As fine as any baby born in this world can be anyway."

That settled over me and I wondered about what kind of future that baby Charlotte would have. A child born into a world where all they would know would be survival. Having babies would be necessary for our survival but as I thought about how those kids would grow up I began to think maybe we should just die out. It'd be just as terrible to bring life into a warzone as it would be to let our race die out.

"What about Matt?" She asked, breaking me out of my dismal thoughts, "And Ben? How're they?"

"Matt's the same. He's upset about being kept out of the action but he's managing." I breathed out a heavy sigh, "I feel it getting closer every minute though. The day I can't keep him safe anymore and he finally gets his way."

Silence followed and we both knew that what I'd said was true and there was no changing it. Life was going to be hard on all of us and Matt was no exception.

"Ben." She stated after a long pause. "You dodged that one."

"I didn't dodge anything." I said shortly, "He's fine."

I could feel her eyes narrow on me.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing," I shrugged, "He got into a fight with some kids the other day, he burns hot and cold, and he's still slowly transforming into a lizard."

My brute honesty seemed to catch her off guard but she quickly composed herself and gave me a sympathetic look.

"Want my advice?" She asked.

I didn't answer at first but after a minute I said, "Sure, why not?"

"Give him space. He's fifteen so he's gonna be emotional and he probably wants to be his own man right now. The last thing he needs is his big brother breathing down his neck." She flicked a twig off of the platform and it landed with a light crack.

"I'm not going to let my brother drift away." I said adamantly.

"You don't have to, but he does need his space." She reasoned. "Jimmy's the same way; just back off a bit."

I looked up at her and set my jaw.

She seemed to understand that I was done arguing about this subject and nodded her head.

"You're sure there's nothing else bothering you?" She asked, before dropping the subject.

"I'm fine." I sidestepped her question and held back the thoughts of yesterday.

With that I turned my back to her and we spent the rest of the watch in silence.


	14. Tested Through Ice

**Author's Note - So it's been a really long time since I've updated. Sorry about that; busy life and all that. But I am back and I will be updating a lot more frequently.**

**So once again, I love all my reviewers XD. Cookie97, Hal being confused is something we all need to get used to for this story haha, and thank you :) I'm gonna do my best with it. I hope i don't dissapoint you and the storys other followers. Divina91, thank you as usual :D. This probably wasnt what you were hoping for but I hope it was enough. Don't worry, the better parts are coming up soon ;). Thanks, I hope yours were too (a little late lmao sorry about that, but Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and all the other stuff XD). FallingSkieslover, Sorry! I know it took a while but like I said, I'm back again :).**

**Anyway, I hope I havent lost you all in my time away. R&R! :)**

* * *

14. Tested Through Ice

A full two weeks had passed since my spur-of-the-moment watch with Maggie. Since then things around camp had calmed down a lot and I was no longer dodging Ben at every turn.

After a few days of minimal contact between the two of us the tumult in my head began to calm and I could finally think clearly again.

I returned to sleeping in our cabin two nights ago. Ben seemed a little wary of my sudden reappearance at first, but we're a family; whatever our issue was it was now behind us.

Life moved on like it always did and it wasn't long until I couldn't even remember what the problem with Ben was in the first place.

That was the funny thing about the world. Even on a post-apocalyptic earth where aliens hunted us at every turn, nothing had really changed. We fought with each other, made huge issues out of minor things, and eventually learned to put it behind us for the sake of ourselves and our loved ones. The only difference being the hunted part.

December 14th. My mind tentatively recalled the date as I rolled on my side and tried to ignore the world and get a few more minutes of sleep.

Christmas was coming soon. So wasn't Ben's birthday. I'd need to prepare something for both; there was no way in hell I was going to let those days pass without recognition, despite all of the chaos around my family.

Matt was warm against my back and I shimmied closer to him underneath the thick fur blanket on top of us. Me and Ben had a watch together later; the first where we'd be alone in a while.

I could prolong waking up as long as I wanted but in the end it would only make it more difficult.

Just as I was about to make the effort to sit up, I heard a professional knock at the door.

The sudden interruption deflated all of my momentum and I completely gave up on the idea of getting out of bed.

"Ben." I groaned, my voice still heavy and rough with sleep.

"Got it." Ben – who must have already been wide awake – said as I heard his booted footsteps cross the room to the door.

I heard the door open and words being spoken but nothing really registered past the darkness of my closed eyelids.

A moment later the door shut and – overpowering my sleep oriented brain – I asked, "What was that?"

"Weaver just sent Wes by," He started as he sat down on his bed, "We're excused from our watch today."

The news filled me with a surge of energy that defeated the point of a cancelled watch, but now I was curious.

"Did he say why?" I asked, rolling over to face him and throw my arm over Matt's sleeping form.

Ben shook his head, "Didn't need to."

"What?" I asked dumbly, "Why?"

Ben looked towards the door and for the first time I heard the rattling as it was hit by a powerful gust of wind.

"Blizzard." He said. "The captain doesn't want you getting sick again." Suddenly he cracked a smile at me, "Pope's covering for us."

A grin formed on my lips and we both shared a look of common enjoyment over the news.

I pulled Matt tighter against my body and rested my head on top of his; finally a day where the three of us had nothing to do and we could just hang out and be lazy.

I watched Ben as he pulled his boots off and dropped them to the floor, before shedding his jacket and lying back on his bed.

"I hear Maggie and Sarah have been hanging out a lot lately." Ben said suddenly, giving me a crooked smile that reminded me way too much of myself at his age.

"Yeah." I nodded slowly, not understanding the tone in his voice, "Maggie's been helping out with the baby. Why?"

Ben shot me a disbelieving look but then shook his head and smirked, "Forget it, how's Tector?"

I shrugged against Matt, "He's alright. Nothing new anyway." I said, not actually certain of my words. I hadn't had a real talk with Tector in a while. But I had noticed that he was always around, watching out for me and my brothers. He'd even pulled Matt out of what could have very easily escalated into a fight with some other kids a few days ago. Afterwards he dropped Matt off on our doorstep and left after telling me that he'd caught Matt and a few other boys 'just being boys'.

"What about Lourdes?" He asked, continuing with this line of questioning.

"Haven't talked to her in a few days." I said with an audible sigh as I stretched my arms over my head and rolled onto my back. "Jamil's taking care of her though. He's a good guy."

"With Uncle Scott back on his feet Jamil can probably go back to being a normal civilian." Ben said.

I immediately had the urge to counter his argument but quickly stopped myself. Knowing Scott, he'd probably fast-track Jamil's training after his bout with the flu. He was getting old and in this world we had no idea how much longer he'd have, but I knew better than to say that to Ben. He looked up to Scott and I couldn't bring myself to make him worry about the elderly man.

"Yeah." I nodded in fake agreement and changed the subject, "Anne took good care of him."

"She takes good care of all of you." Ben answered absentmindedly.

"All of you?" I questioned immediately.

"What?" Ben looked at me with confusion before quickly correcting himself when he realized his error. "Us. She takes good care of us."

I furrowed my brow at him but he was already changing the subject.

"Anthony's been getting pretty close with Pope."

"Yeah." I agreed slowly, still giving him a cautious look, "He's his own man; we can't pick and choose his friends."

Ben smiled a genuine smile that came without any effort and looked as natural on his lips as the sun did in the sky, "You sound like dad when you talk like that."

Silence fell over both of us as we each thought about dad. I missed him a lot and so didn't Ben but neither of us could show it. We needed to be strong for Matt. This war had taken a lot of people from us and it wasn't nearly done yet.

The howling winds rattled the cabin around us and for a moment I thought that the whole thing was going to come crashing down.

"Dad wouldn't want us to think about him." Ben's voice was filled with loss and suffering; and I knew exactly how he felt.

"I know." I said quietly.

Neither of us spoke for a while after that, simply choosing to let the heavy silence drag on into the day.

Eventually I decided that we needed to get up. Even with the blizzard raging outside the three of us still needed to eat.

At this point I was fully awake and sat up easily, turning to Matt and shaking his shoulder softly.

"Matt, buddy. Wake up, we're gonna go get breakfast."

Matt mumbled something in his sleep and rolled onto his back, wiping at his mouth.

I smirked and shook my head, shaking him a little bit harder, "C'mon, wake up."

"N-, another minute." He said unintelligibly.

I lifted my head to look at Ben, "Wake him up?" I asked with a smile.

Ben sighed but couldn't help smiling at Matt as well. "Yeah."

Both Ben and I got out of our separate beds at the same time; me making my way across the room in my boxers to rummage through one of the duffel bags for clothes, and Ben crossing to wake up Matt.

The air in the cabin was cold and I felt goosebumps spread up my bare chest and across my arms.

Behind me I could hear Ben waking Matt up gently. He was always better with Matt than I ever was. Within the minute Matt was awake and they were having a muffled conversation.

"Get ready, we're going to get breakfast. Put on your coat." I called the orders over my shoulder as I bent down to grab my clothes.

I quickly slid a dark t-shirt on and followed it with my dirt/sweat/gasoline stained thermal. I pulled my old cargo pants on and sat down on Ben's bed to shove my feet into my boots.

Looking across the room I saw Ben helping Matt get dressed; getting his pants and shoes for him, before putting his own boots on and grabbing his coat.

I watched Ben run his fingers through Matt's curly mop of hair and was reminded how much like mom Ben could be at times.

Once we were all set I grabbed my coat and the three of us made our way out of our moderately-warm cabin and into the freezing weather.

We hurried the short distance to the dining hall and arrived shivering and blanketed in the soft white snow that was piling up outside and making it impossible to walk.

The first thing I noticed in the large room was how warm it was. I quickly realized that this was because almost half of the entire 2nd Mass was here, Weaver must've ordered extra fuel to be diverted here so that people didn't start getting sick.

People weren't here simply eating though; there were entire families huddled together under blankets occupying many tables and their surrounding areas.

Lunch was being served and most of the younger civilians and fighters were eating, while it seemed the elderly were content to simply sit and try to weather the cold.

"Matt, go find a table for us." I said to my youngest brother, before me and Ben made our way to the serving counter.

I turned my head multiple times to check on Matt in the crowded room as he searched for an empty table.

"He can find a table, Hal. He's a big boy." Ben said, from beside me as we reached the back of the line.

I turned to look at him.

He looked tired. There were dark circles under his eyes and his skin was even paler than normal.

"You sleeping alright?" I asked, lobbing the question to him as if it were a simple inquiry, with no hidden intentions.

Ben's eyes dropped to the ground and he nodded, "Yeah, fine. Why?"

I shook my head, "No reason."

It only took a minute for us to reach one of the servers. Ben grabbed a bowl for himself and I grabbed two for me and Matt.

The middle-aged woman behind the counter ladled some soup into each of the bowls before giving us a smile and sending us on our way.

Ben's elbow kept bumping mine as we searched the dining hall for Matt and he almost made me spill the soup on numerous occasions.

"Watch it." I said after he'd bumped me for the seventh time.

"Not my fault." He grunted as he bumped into me again, trying to avoid an elderly lady tending to a screaming toddler. "There's too many people in here."

I let out an angry sigh and used my elbow to carefully maneuver Ben in front of me and give him a little shove forward.

He led us – single file – towards the far corner of the room where we finally found Matt seated at a table all by himself; waiting for the two of us with sleep still in his eyes.

We sat down and I slid Matt's bowl in front of him, handing him a spoon to eat with.

As the three of us ate we started talking but the conversation quickly went to where it always did when we all talked. I don't know who brought it up first but one of us mentioned dad and after that a heavy silence fell over us. Within a few minutes we were barely touching our food; preferring to simply stir it around and take an occasional spoonful.

We traded quick comments back and forth, mostly about the quality time we'd spent with him post-invasion – although corrupted by the grief and anger at his loss.

But then something different happened.

Ben looked at both of us with a grin and brought up a topic we hadn't ever talked about. A good memory from before the invasion.

"Remember when he used to get us up in the middle of the night to play Xbox?" Ben's exuberance quickly rubbed off on both of us as we reminisced into a time where there were no Skitters and Mechs, no patrols or scout missions, and definitely no dead friends at every turn.

I smiled back and shook my head, "Only on weekends though."

"'Listen boys. Your education is important to me. It should be important to you too, but you're all young so I don't expect all that much from you in the way of brains. Especially you Hal.'" We all laughed as Ben quoted dad's words exactly, lowering his voice a few octaves and holding up a finger at us.

"'But that doesn't mean that we can't have a little fun when the school week's over.'" I added; nodding my head in that 'college professor' way that dad did.

"'Just as long as you don't tell your mother.'" Matt joined in; making an awkward attempt to lower his voice that we all laughed at.

"Remember the time mom caught us?" I laughed, leaning forward on the table and sharing in the temporary moment of comfort with my brothers.

"I remember that you were grounded for a week." Ben snickered, "And dad for two."

"And yet you managed to get out of it with only extra chores for one night." I playfully kicked his leg under the table and chuckled.

"Hey!" He kicked me back, "I wasn't the one who pretended to be asleep."

At this we both looked to Matt. "I didn't even get to play!" He defended himself.

I nodded to his point and looked back at Ben, "Remember how even after that I used to wake you up and we would sneak downstairs to play anyways?"

"I knew it!" Matt called out; looking at both of us like we'd just killed his favorite pet bunny. "Dad said you guys wouldn't risk it again but I knew I used to hear the TV on."

Ben's smile took on a calm and gentle trait as his eyes fell to his bowl of soup. He took another spoonful of soup before speaking. "I used to fall asleep on the couch." He let out a small laugh, "You'd always carry me upstairs so we didn't get caught."

I looked over at Ben and saw a strange mix of emotions on his face.

Then he turned his green eyes on me and I saw something powerful in them. Something that scared me and made my entire body tense up.

"I wasn't gonna get in trouble because you can't stay awake." I joked with a hollow laugh, trying to return things to the normalcy we'd just had a moment ago.

Fortunately it worked; at least on the surface.

Ben's smile lost all tinges of that softness and the emotion in his eyes dissipated; only to be replaced with the familiar comfort of my younger brother.

"Not my fault that your gaming put me to sleep." He shrugged with a cocky smile.

"Oh really?" I raised my eyebrows at him in a challenging manner and flashed a grin.

"Just who I was looking for." The new voice cut through the warmth and familial disposition around our table, immediately making itself known to be an intrusive annoyance to our family.

I turned my head to glare at Pope as he strolled towards us with a shit-eating grin.

He simply ignored my confronting demeanor and plopped down in between me and Ben. The smell of gasoline and grease washed over the table in a sickly aroma of grime and filth.

No one around camp really smelled all that good but there was something extra disgusting about Pope.

"I thought I told you to get lost." I said through gritted teeth, "We don't want anything to do with you."

"Chill out Audie Murphy." He chuckled, "Just visiting my favorite little Princelets."

I saw Matt turn his head down and avoid any sort of contact with the man who'd intruded on our family. But Ben seemed to tilt his chin up and lock eyes with the convict in a hostile gesture.

"Go away Pope." The strength in Ben's voice caught me off guard and I wondered for a moment if it was even my brother who'd uttered the words.

"And why would I do that little half-breed?" Pope's tone became poisonous and violent. "After you and your brainwashed action hero of a brother got me stuck out in a blizzard all morning?"

"We didn't choose your assignment." I jumped in, getting the criminal to turn his head back to me. "Weaver must've thought you were the best man for the job."

"Yeah." He let out an amused bark. "I'm sure I was." The older man then locked his eyes with mine. "I decided I'd be generous today and give you a chance to rethink your earlier refusal to join me."

I smirked and looked at him with disbelief on my face. "You're not serious."

"Oh, on the contrary young Mason. I am very serious." He looked down at his hands and dropped the games and wordplay. "Look." He said flatly. "The situation at camp's changing rapidly and we're going to need each other if we all want to get out of this alive."

"We don't need your help." I spat. "C'mon guys." I grabbed my bowl and began to stand.

Pope was on his feet before I'd even gotten to a fully upright position.

"There's no need to run." Pope watched as my brothers obediently followed me lead and stood, grabbing their bowls. "I'm just trying to help out."

"Like I said. We don't need your help." I went to walk around him but he stopped me by stepping in my way again.

"But you do." He guaranteed me with a confident sneer. "Danner and Ryerson are almost to blows over the scaly one." He nodded over my shoulder to Ben. "And our noble captain seems to be crumbling under the pressure of this wonderful world."

"Don't listen to him." My eyes never left those of my enemy as I spoke to my brothers.

"It's true." He assured, again looking to Ben instead of me. "Our wonderful Lieutenant Danner is pushing to have you and that little gangbanger son of the illustrious Mike Thompson put down." He stopped for a moment before quoting the Lieutenant. "'Like the traitors they will undoubtedly become.'"

"Bullshit." I called.

Pope sighed and looked back to me. "Will you quit your moaning. I'm trying to have a conversation with lizard boy here." He continued before I had a chance to shut him up. "Ryerson's doing his best." He admitted. "But the man is severely inept at politics. It doesn't look good."

"No one's going to touch him." I said through my teeth, baring them to the older man and puffing my chest out.

"For chrissakes do you ever shut up?" He groaned, stepping back from me and placing a hand over his eyes. He moved it away a moment later and looked like he was going to try a new strategy. "Listen kiddies. Despite all your bravado and macho man 'no one's gonna touch my spiky little brother' which – don't get me wrong – I respect; they might in fact kill all three of you if you don't listen to me." His eyes were honest; which was something new on Pope. But I knew that he was still playing an angle. Nothing was straightforward with him. "You need protection." He stated. "Weaver's losing his mind and Danner's poised to take over this little operation. Once that happens," He gestured with his hands, "I'm out. Ain't no way I'm sticking around for him to form his own Gestapo. That man's a walking Putin and I don't want to be around for the inauguration. I want you two," His eyes briefly went to Matt, "to come with me. Bring the little one if you need to, but we need to blow this party. And soon."

Before any of us had a chance to respond to his insane rants, another person arrived.

The first I saw of him was a hand covered by fingerless shooting gloves, grasping Pope's shoulder.

The convict spun around to face Tector.

"Trouble over here boys?" He looked over Pope's shoulder to me and my brothers.

"No trouble at all farmer boy." Pope smiled at him with menace, "Just having a talk with my boys."

"Leave them boys alone Pope." Tector drawled, "They're kids man. They don't got to be involved with this."

"They're good at what they do is what they are." Pope tossed the backhanded compliment to us. "They'd be useful once we're out of here."

"This isn't what I signed up for Pope." Tector said, "It ain't what none of us signed up for."

"You all said you wanted to kill Cooties." Pope spat, "Well that's what we're gonna do. Once we ditch this sad attempt at saving humanity."

"And what if I happened to let the others know what you were planning?" Tector lifted his chin at Pope, "What then?"

"Tector." Pope grinned widely at the southern man, "You ugly bastard. And here I thought you didn't have a brain in that big ole head of yours."

"Leave 'em alone Pope." He stated again. "They're just kids."

Pope shook his head and looked down at his boots, rubbing the dirt and dried sweat from his brow. "Fine." He held up his hands and began to back away. "Fine. I'll leave them alone." Then he turned to look me in the eyes. "For now."

And with that, Pope slinked away once again.

"You boys alright?" Tector asked once he was gone.

"Yeah." I nodded, assuring him immediately. "We can handle Pope."

"He's a piece of work, he is." Tector laughed, stepping closer to me and giving me a rough pat on the back. "Just remember, I got your back. That goes for all three of you." He turned and leveled his eyes with each of my brothers in turn.

Then he smiled again, letting all seriousness drift away. "Now why don't you boys sit back down and finish your lunch. I'll see y'all around."

Tector disappeared before I got a chance to ask him what he was doing joining up with Pope. Not that I didn't already know the answer. Pope was offering a chance to kill Skitters and Tector wanted in.

The three of us sat back down but the easy familial mood of earlier was gone and there was nothing we could do to reclaim it.

We finished up eating quickly. Swallowing whatever was left of our now-cold soup.

I was just about to get up and have us all head back to the cabin when Matt called out.

"Hey Abby! Over here!" He waved his arms in the air.

I turned my head to see her smiling at Matt like he was the cutest thing in the world as she walked towards us.

I wasn't exactly sure when the two of them had met but it must've been through Lourdes – seeing as her and Abby had been pretty tight since meeting a few weeks ago.

It'd been a few days since I last saw Abby but the smile she gave me told me that she'd been looking for me. In all honesty I hadn't really thought much about her since last seeing her and I made no attempts to seek her out. But that was probably just because of how busy I'd been lately; taking on extra missions and trying to hold what was left of my family together with gum and paper clips.

"Hey little man." She smiled at Matt before turning her head to me, "Long time no see."

"I know, I know." I held my hands up and offered a faux surrender. "But in my defense I've been keeping my eyes on these two." I nodded over my shoulder to the boys, "Dumbasses don't know how to stay out of trouble." I grinned at her.

She nodded and laughed, looking at the two of them and sitting down next to me. "Believe me, I'm well aware about the crazy Mason gene." She turned again to Matt. "How many IV's did you knock over the other day? Seven was it?"

"Hey!" Matt hollered, "I didn't mean too!"

I scoffed and turned my head to Matt, with the trace of a smile on my lips. "How come no one told me about this?"

"It wasn't really a big deal." Abby waved me off in the way I frequently did to others. Being on the other end of it wasn't all that enjoyable. "Lo left them in the middle of the room anyway."

"Lo?" I questioned, "You guys are pretty close now."

"Huh? Oh. Yeah I guess." She shrugged. "Anne wanted to start training some civilians as a medical staff, so I volunteered."

"What happened to being a sentry? Too tough for you?" I grinned at her.

"Nope." She shook her head and smiled, "I'm still taking a few assignments from the Captain here and there. Just figured I'd be of as much use as possible."

"You can just do it all can't you?" I laughed and shook my head.

That's when I heard Ben mumble something under his breath.

"What?" I turned around to face my brother.

He looked a little caught off guard at first but quickly composed himself. "Oh, um, nothing." He answered, his face turning red.

I lifted a brow at him. "You alright?" I asked, concerned for my brother.

He nodded rapidly. "Yeah. M'fine."

I wasn't so sure what to make of his sudden weirdness but just then Lourdes showed up.

She waved to all of us, "Hey guys." She looked down at Abby, "Anne's looking for you."

Abby sighed but smiled anyway. "Another blood pressure check?"

"Nope." Lourdes offered a slight smirk. "One of our fighters took a nasty fall onto some scrap metal during the last scout. You're learning how to clean and stitch up a wound."

Abby's chin dropped a little and she looked unsure. "Oh." She deadpanned. "I don't know if I'm ready for th-"

"Of course you are." Lourdes reassured her. "I've seen you, you're a natural at helping people. C'mon, we can't wait too long."

Abby's hand brushed up against mine by accident and I swiftly grasped it, giving a light squeeze before whispering in her ear. "You'll do fine."

She turned towards me as I released her hand. "Thanks." Her eyes dropped and pink rose to her porcelain yet dirt streaked cheeks.

I patted her jean-clad thigh as she took Lourdes' hand and stood up.

"Matt you wanna come?" Lourdes asked before they left.

"Sure!" Matt hopped to his feet and rushed after them as they began to walk away.

"Hey!" I called, "Hold on." I got to my feet and looked to Lourdes; my eyes glancing towards Matt.

"Don't worry." She assured me, knowing my concern. "The wounds not even that bad. Definitely nothing that he hasn't seen before."

I nodded tightly and watched the three of them leave.

No later than they left were we joined by new arrivals once again.

Jimmy and Rick went straight to Ben. Jimmy walked right up to my brother but Rick hung back a few feet and kept his silence.

"Hey Ben." Jimmy said, getting his attention. "We're gonna go have a snowball fight with Liam, Tyler and some other guys, c'mon."

Ben nodded, but then looked at me. "I should stay with my brother." He said, turning back to them.

I quickly interrupted before they walked away. "No. It's fine Ben, go with your friends."

"But Hal-"

"Don't waste your one day off dumbass." I laughed but it felt fake and hollow.

Quickly shaking my head and gathering all three of the bowls left on the table, I started to walk away.

I could feel his eyes on me as I walked away but I pretended not to even notice his presence. I brought the bowls up to the counter and then left the dining hall.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I regretted basically forcing Ben to go. But I knew that he needed to be with his friends. To laugh and joke and mess around. To actually be happy for once. And I wasn't going to hold him back from that.

I probably should've still warned him not to stay out in the cold too long but it wouldn't have really served a purpose. He wasn't going to get sick or even probably feel the cold. Hell, maybe the heat radiating off of his body would melt all the snow and walking back to the cabin wouldn't be so difficult.

Putting all thoughts of Ben behind me, I trudged through the blizzard and braced myself against the cold.

This snow storm was a lot like life for all humans right now. It was cold and harsh and uncaring to our struggle. Like the aliens it could wipe us all out without feeling or sympathy.

Somewhere deep inside it made me want to give up. Life was a pointless struggle for survival; one that we would never win and could only end in pain and loss. There was no happy ending for us.

But that didn't mean that I wasn't going to fight my hardest, to resist until I was nothing but bone, and to try and forge a place for me and my family in this hellhole that we used to call home.

And that was why I didn't simply lie down in the snow and give up. Why I didn't let the cold take me to mom.

Because I had two smart, beautiful, amazing reasons to keep on fighting. And I'd fight like hell to keep them safe and free.


	15. The Conscience Of The King

**Author's Note - FINALLY UPDATED! I know it took me long enough haha but I just got in the mood all of a sudden and punched this one out. I think it's good for a short connecting chapter but I'm gonna step up my game for the next few and try to make them as awesome as possible.**

**So thankyou to all of my readers and reviewers for supporting the story even through my rough patch of not updating. Billy Stone, No problem with the English haha you did pretty good. Thanks for reading my stories and I look forward to the PM XD**

**Ok so stop wasting time reading my ramblings and get to the story :)**

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15. The Conscience Of The King

I was almost back to the cabin when I made a split-second decision and turned towards Captain Weaver's command center.

If I had gone home I would've just sat in the cabin all day and thought of how my day with my brothers had just turned into a stormy and depressing day by myself. I wasn't all that excited to be alone at the moment so I decided to take care of something that Pope said that had worried me.

I entered the command center and shook the snow out of my hair. I was hoping to catch Weaver alone but instead I entered in the middle of what was apparently a very heated discussion between Danner and Ryerson.

"Look who it is." Danner spat sardonically as he turned to take notice of my arrival.

"Problem Lieutenant?" I raised a brow at him, meeting his attitude with confidence. I was hoping my bravado was enough to mask the quick glance I sent to Ryerson over Danner's shoulder.

"My problem," He accentuated the second word, "Is that this is no place for a child. Never mind a potential security threat."

"Back off Danner." Ryerson jumped in, placing himself between the two of us and glaring at the Lieutenant.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I said, stepping up beside Ryerson and ruining his attempt to disarm the situation.

"It means that you should run off and play nice with the other kids before you get in too deep." He said slowly and with venom.

"Danner." Ryerson warned, inching closer.

"No!" Danner snapped. "Mason's whole god forsaken family is a stain on the reputation of this regiment. What can't you see about that Jim? His brother is a walking alien science experiment who got one of my men killed. And his father disappeared with one of those fish heads. He's a traitor for all we know-"

Danner's voice caught in his throat as I lunged forward in blind rage and attempted to strike him across the jaw.

Ryerson's arms encircled my waist and he slammed me back against the wall.

"Enough!" Weaver's voice was followed by the slam of his fist on his desk. "Ryerson, Danner, you're both dismissed." His voice contained the finality that I'd heard so often from him.

Ryerson waited for Danner to salute the Captain and exit the building before releasing me and doing the same.

I dusted myself off as Weaver took a seat again and looked at me with a tired glance. "Now what can I do for you Hal?"

"You alright cap?" I put aside my earlier concerns when I saw the exhaustion in his eyes.

He sighed. "Everything's fine." He assured me with barely contained hostility. "What are you here for?"

I shrugged and scratched the back of my neck, suddenly a little bit less certain in my conviction. "I wanted to talk about my brother."

"Ben." Weaver nodded and thought for a moment. "He's gonna be fine. You have nothing to worry about."

"You know I can't trust that." I did my best to keep my shoulders straight. "Especially not with Danner talking the way he is. I need to take care of my family."

"What do you want from me Hal?" The Captain shouted; his voice cracking and betraying his instability. "I'm doing the best I can to keep your family out of the line of fire."

I was shocked by how shaken he appeared. Maybe what Pope said about him crumbling under pressure had some truth to it.

That's when I noticed the drawing on his desk. It was what appeared to be three kittens smiling broadly from their perch in a baby's crib, with a name scrawled in crayon in the corner. Sophia.

The drawing was streaked with dirt and thinned from time but I recalled it from back at JFK high school. His youngest girl had drawn it for him. The one who was harnessed and died.

Worrying about his family was what had caused him to go off the tracks last time and start popping pills.

"What's going on Cap?" I asked in a softer tone. "You're not taking pills again are you?"

"No." His voice was gruff now as he waved me off. "Of course not."

"Then what's wrong?" I pushed.

He let out a long dragging sigh, "Danner's been after your brother since before we even got here. Ryerson and I have done our best to fend him off but he's gaining support. Especially among the fighters."

"So?" I narrowed my eyes at the Captain. "Lock him up. Problem solved."

He shook his head and dismissed me. "I can't just do that Hal."

"Sure you can!" I exclaimed, throwing my hand out.

"No I can't!" He stood up again and slammed his fist on the desk, silencing me. He isn't one of my fighters anymore. The obedient soldier I knew is gone, he's a leader now and he won't stop until he's in charge."

"You're the Captain! Take charge!" I tried to get through to him.

"I am." He locked his jaw and leveled his eyes at me. "And I'm handling this. You're dismissed soldier."

This wasn't a conversation anymore it was an order.

I was fuming but there was nothing I could say right now. Weaver had made his decision and now it was time for me to make my own.

I stormed out of the command center and slammed the door behind me.

If the Captain wouldn't step in to save Ben then I would have to step up and do something I didn't like.


	16. Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here

**Author's Note - This chapter's pretty important and the next one after it is possibly THE most important one in the story. Just a little spoiler/teaser for you all :)**

**Thanks to all my readers and reviewers again. Unturned, I'll leave that up to the reader to decide for now but I'm sure it'll be pretty clear early on in this chapter.**

**R&R!**

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**16. Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here**

I knew I was at the right place when I saw the head of a Skitter mounted on a sharp stick.

The thick forest covering above my head prevented the snow from piling up too much on the path but it wasn't a joy walk by any means.

As I continued towards my destination I saw more and more Skitter "trophies". A few more heads were impaled by sticks, there were limbs nailed to trees and dangling from branches, and 'fingers' had been made into necklaces and wind chimes which hung all around me in the forest creating an eerie primal atmosphere.

I entered a small clearing and took note of the tree stumps and logs that filled the area, and the cold fire pit in the center.

"Well, well, look what the Cooties dragged in." Pope's voice gave away his position behind me.

I turned to face him slowly, knowing what I was going to do but not liking it.

He offered me a complacent smile that said he knew it all.

The convict took a few steps past me – revealing Boon and Crazy Lee standing behind him – and threw his arms out in a grand gesture. If he wasn't so opposed to personal hygiene then he could easily have been a politician or even European royalty pre-invasion.

"So my young Mason compadre," He began, turning slowly to face me and meeting the eyes of his lackeys over my shoulder. "What can I do for you?"

I stared into his mocking eyes for a long moment; taking note of the hardness he tried to hide under a thick veil of pleasantries and predatory humor. He was good at pretending but he was just as on edge about this meeting as I was.

"You know what I'm here for Pope." I choked out through a tight throat.

He cocked his head to the side. "Now, I'm afraid that's where you're wrong my little princelet." He took a few controlled steps towards me. "But," The convict held out a finger, "If I had to guess I'd say you paid a visit to old man Jenkins and realized that this little experiment in holding hands and singing Kumbaya is about as effective as taking out a Cootie with a screwdriver."

I didn't offer him anything in return but I could hear Crazy Lee chuckling behind me and knew that he was trying to toy with me.

"Cut the jokes Pope." I leveled my eyes with his and steeled my resolve. "I'm here to protect my family. If that means partnering up with a scumbag then that's what I'll do."

"Your words wound me, pup." He folded his hands over his heart but I saw the spark in his eye that told me he was relieved.

When he realized that no matter how hard he tried I wasn't going to play his games, his demeanor changed and all of the tricks and self-satisfaction evaporated.

"Boon go get the others." His voice was comfortable with the command as he brushed snow off of his shoulder.

"You got it boss." The young man said and headed off down the path.

I stood silently as I locked eyes with Pope. We both knew that this was a new low for me.

"It's funny the way things work." He chuckled, "I offer my help in complete altruism and you turn me down. But now that you realize I'm your only hope of surviving this world, you come back and I graciously accept you into my family." A smirk found its way to his lips. "Pretty generous of me don't you think?"

"You want me to walk away?" I offered in a stern voice but we both knew it was crap.

His body rose with a quick snicker. "Really?" Pope raised a brow. "Let's not kid ourselves here."

"Then shut up." My retort came quick and clean.

He shrugged. "Fair enough."

The others arrived together and filled the clearing with bodies.

I took in each of them with different reactions.

Tector; I already knew that he'd joined up and I wasn't at all surprised as to why. Boon was like a brother to him and he and Lee had been getting close recently.

Lyle; he seemed like Pope's type of man. Like a tool to be used when he needed some heads cracked. Plus I'd heard he was pretty good with improvised explosives.

Wes; I knew he always like to live a little on the rough side – and rough in this world was a lot different than rough before the invasion. I wouldn't have guessed Pope had chosen him but I supposed anyone willing to kill Skitters was of good use to the convict.

Grenice; I'd been on a mission with her once. Back then she looked like a runway model but the apocalypse had hit her hard. No longer was she that stunning woman I'd seen back in Boston, and the focused green eyes were now cold as the grave and intensely unfriendly. Her ginger hair was caked in dirt and tangled into knots. I wondered if she still had the thick Boston accent or if it had faded like everything else about her.

The last face in the group surprised me even though it shouldn't have. Anthony; I knew he'd been getting closer to Pope – probably repaying him for the time he saved his ass in Boston. Still, seeing the ex-Boston PD cop hanging around Pope was somewhat of an eye-opener.

"Didn't know I had such a large following did you?" Pope laughed at his own terrible joke.

"I don't care Pope. I'm here to make a deal."

"Touchy." He prodded.

"Listen to me." I inched forward and laid out my offer. "I'll join your squad if you have my back against Danner. No games, no tricks, that's my offer."

"You really are a killjoy you know that?" A couple of his men laughed. "Fine." He threw a hand up. "You and the spiky one join us and I'll keep you safe from the big bad wolf."

"No." I shook my head. "No Ben. He stays out of this."

Pope looked at me like he thought I was stupid. "You're a good fighter kid but we have enough of those. What we need is raw power. The half-breed."

"Don't call him that." I said through gritted teeth. "Ben's off the table. I won't sell my brother out to you."

"I ain't the devil Mason."

"Close enough."

We locked eyes again in a battle of wills that would never have ended if it hadn't been for Tector stepping in and drawing both of our attention.

"Listen Mason," He looked sympathetic. "Pope's right. You're brother's a powerhouse. Now I promised you I'd keep you and your brothers safe and that promise stands. He won't be put in any unnecessary danger, you got my word." He saw that I didn't look convinced and turned to Pope. "Isn't that right Pope?"

Pope saw that this was the best offer he'd get and nodded, waving us both off. "Yeah, yeah whatever. We'll keep Scales on the kiddie missions."

Tector held his hand out to me and met my eyes. "Deal?"

I felt a sinking in my stomach that told me I was making a terrible decision. Nonetheless I grasped his dirt covered hand and shook tightly.

"Deal."


End file.
